NYC nurses strike for third day on Wednesday as two major hospitals still unable to reach a deal

Wednesday marked the third consecutive day of nurses striking from two major New York City as the two major hospitals where they work have been unable to strike a contract deal with their union.

The strike began on Monday with over 7,000 nurses from New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital and another hospital, Montefiore Bronx, walking off the job in order to mount pressure on their hospitals to agree upon a contract deal to give them better healthcare benefits, fairer wages, and adequate staffing to allow them to keep their patients safe.

The nurses had warned for weeks that they would be forced to strike if the hospitals did not reach a deal with the New York State Nurses Association. On Monday morning, Mt. Sinai and Montefiore had still not reached a deal.

The New York Times reported “chaotic scenes” inside the hospitals amid the strike this week amid the absence of the nurses on the picket line, but the protesters say they are striking on behalf of their patients, saying they are severely understaffed.

“When I’m in ICU, I’m supposed to have two patients. I have three to four. I have two or three nurses working 24 hours,” she said.

“This has been going on even before the pandemic. We’ve negotiated for over four months. They’ve refused to listen to us,” said one nurse to CNN. 

Mt. Sinai told CBS2 over the weekend ahead of the strike “Mount Sinai is dismayed by NYSNA’s reckless actions. The union is jeopardizing patients’ care, and it’s forcing valued Mount Sinai nurses to sacrifice their dedication to patient care and their own livelihoods. We have offered a 19.1% compounded pay raise over three years, which is the same offer other hospital systems in the city have made.”