Striking NYC nurses, hospitals set to resume negotiations Thursday
Striking New York City nurses are set to return to the bargaining table Thursday, the New York State Nurses Association said.
The announcement came Wednesday, the 10th day of the strike.
"NYSNA nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian will resume bargaining on Thursday after being urged back to the negotiating table by Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani. Nurses stand ready to bargain to reach fair contracts and end the strike. With continued support of mediators, nurses plan on bargaining daily to settle fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety. Nurses will continue to picket and strike until tentative agreements are reached with the hospitals," NYSNA said in a statement.
The union is expected to reveal more information later Wednesday.
Word of the new negotiations came as the nurses continued their strike, hoisting signs and chanting that they want a contract now. The nurses are demanding better pay, increased staffing, fully funded benefits and better protections against workplace violence.
Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined the striking nurses on the picket line. It's the second time the mayor joined the picket line, having stood with the nurses on the first day of the strike. Negotiations had come to a standstill at the time Mamdani and Sanders appeared.
"This is about safe working conditions. This is about a fair contract. This is about dignity," Mamdani said. "Now is your time of need, where we can ensure that this is a city that you don't just work in but a city that you can also live in."
"We are hopeful each day that we are out here fighting, we are hopeful for a solution soon," Mount Sinai nurse Camella Talbert-Smith said.
Mount Sinai has said it has hired even more travel nurses to assist during the strike, focused on specialty areas to bring surgical volumes back to normal. Mount Sinai says it has not proposed any changes to nurses' health care plans, while NewYork-Presbyterian called the union's demands for a 25% wage hike over three years "unrealistic."
Hospitals and emergency rooms across all of the systems have remained open during the strike.
