NYC nurses strike enters Week 2 still with no end in sight
New York City's largest nurses strike entered its second week Monday and there appears to be no end in sight as around 15,000 nurses hold the picket line.
No bargaining sessions are currently scheduled between the New York State Nurses Association and the three major hospital systems: Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian.
Nurses plan MLK day of service
Striking nurses said they will take part in a day of service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day focused on giving back to the community.
Nurses will be offering free community health screenings to public housing (NYCHA) tenants who live at the George Washington Carver Houses, which is across the street from The Mount Sinai Hospital on the Manhattan's Upper East Side.
The screenings are available from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., organizers said.
Later, Rev. Al Sharpton will rally with nurses at Mount Sinai Morningside in Upper Manhattan. The rally is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Where negotiations stand
NYSNA said it's imperative that the hospitals agree to their demands to improve staffing ratios, offer protection from workplace violence and maintain health care benefits.
The nurses said, like King, they are fighting for racial and economic justice by striking in order to provide safe, quality health care for all New Yorkers.
Last week, the union held bargaining sessions with Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, but said no progress was made toward a deal and accused hospital executives of rejecting their revised proposals without making a counteroffer.
The hospitals' negotiators repeatedly called the nurses' demands unreasonable, with Mount Sinai saying the proposal would cost $1.6 billion over the next three years.
