NYC nurses strike as 15,000 walk from Manhattan, Bronx hospitals
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A labour dispute is at the centre of the conflict, with workers arguing that hospital management is threatening to cull benefits.
PHOTO: VINCENT ALBAN/NYTIMES
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NEW YORK – Thousands of nurses at three major hospitals in New York City began to strike on Jan 12, amid a severe flu season and broader pressures on the US healthcare system.
The walkout impacts roughly 15,000 nurses at hospitals, including Mount Sinai Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, as well as Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to join nurses on the picket line in Washington Heights on Jan 12.
A labour dispute is at the centre of the conflict, with workers represented by New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA) arguing that hospital management is threatening to cull benefits, the union said in a statement.
Hospital management at all three systems said the decision to walk out is “reckless”, in a statement before the strike.
On Jan 12, Mount Sinai Health System said it has readied 1,400 qualified and specialised nurses and is “prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts”.
Healthcare systems across the US are under pressure after President Donald Trump’s signature economic package cut about US$1 trillion (S$1.2 trillion) in funding to Medicaid, the public health insurance programme for low-income and disabled people, and lawmakers remain deadlocked over whether to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.
Labour is often the largest cost for a hospital system, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of expenses.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she has been in regular communication with the NYSNA and hospital leadership. Though progress has been made, she issued an executive order allowing the systems to access resources to maintain patient care, her office said in a statement on Jan 11.
Ahead of the strike, Mr Mamdani said New York City was “prepared for any and all scenarios”.
“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to healthcare – and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work,” he said in a late statement on Jan 11 on X. “Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable.”
The nursing union said it wants safer staffing levels, better health benefits and more workplace security measures after several recent incidents.
Earlier this week, a man holding a sharp object barricaded himself in a room at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. A gunman also walked into a Mount Sinai office in November.
“New York City’s wealthiest hospitals, including Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, where there have been recent incidents of violence, need to do the right thing and settle fair contracts that keep nurses and patients safe,” Ms Nancy Hagans, president of the nurses union, said in a statement.
This strike comes three years after a similar labour dispute ended in a historic contract. BLOOMBERG
