NEW YORK — “We’ve had lots of support on the picket line, in spite of the bitter cold weather,” a nurse in the cardiac-surgical unit told the Militant on the picket line in front of Mount Sinai Hospital Jan. 21. Steelworkers, electricians, hospital workers at Lenox Hill that aren’t on strike and, “of course, our co-workers in SEIU 1199,” which organizes technicians and support workers at Mount Sinai, have joined us, she said. She asked that her name not be used for fear of reprisals from the company.
Some 15,000 nurses, members of the New York State Nurses Association, have been on strike since Jan. 12 at three of the major hospital systems in New York City — New York-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore.
The two biggest issues are staffing levels and medical insurance. “We need safe staffing,” Anne Farrington, a nurse at Montefiore for 15 years, told News 12. “In the emergency room, patients are packed together. We need better care for our patients.”
The hospitals are trying to take out all the contract language won after a hard-fought strike three years ago that forced the companies to maintain agreed upon staffing quotas in each department or face substantial fines. “Without facing sizable penalties, the hospital will understaff. They’re a business and it’s all about profit to them,” the cardiac-surgical nurse said.
Nurses on the picket line had different reactions to news reports that Mount Sinai and New York-Presbyterian had agreed to maintain the nurses’ current health plan with no cuts. Some were relieved. Other nurses were reserving judgment. “Until a contract is signed, it’s just a promise,” one said.
During the strike, Montefiore Hospital has cut off health coverage for the thousands of striking nurses there.