NYC nurses strike ends after union reaches contract deal

The three-day New York City nurse strike has come to a close after reaching a tentative contract deal. Thousands of union nurses from Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center walked out on Monday to demand better staffing and working hours.

The deal grants a raise of 19.1 percent over three years and creates 170 new nursing positions to improve the staffing shortage, writes The New York Times. "Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care," said the president of the New York State Nurses Association, Nancy Hagans.

Montefiore said in a statement, "We know this strike impacted everyone — not just our nurses — and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care." Mount Sinai added that the "proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals."

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The strike started over the understaffing of hospitals largely exacerbated by the pandemic. Nurses argued they were "exhausted and burnt out," which was negatively impacting patients, CNN wrote. At the same time, Montefiore and Mount Sinai were unable to reach an agreement from a bargaining session over the weekend.

"Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession," Hagans concluded.