Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Thousands of nurses across New York City were back on the picket lines on January 14 as the largest nurses strike in city history entered its third day, with no deal in sight and tensions escalating between union leaders and hospital management.
At the center of the dispute is Mount Sinai’ Hospital’s decision to fire three labor and delivery nurses just hours before the strike began. The union says the terminations were meant to intimidate workers ahead of the walkout. Mount Sinai disputes that characterization, saying the nurses were fired for interfering with patient safety. The nurses deny the allegations, saying they were unjustly fired and unfairly targeted. “We are tired of being surveilled. We are tired of the union busting,” one nurse said at the picket line. “It’s time for Mount Sinai to deliver a fair contract.”
The strike also affected Montefiore Medical Center and NewYorkPresbyterian Hospital. The union said nurses were demanding better pay, safer staffing levels, fully funded health benefits and stronger protections from workplace violence. NewYork-Presbyterian said it was willing to negotiate but claimed the union’s latest proposal would amount to roughly $2 billion in wage increases over three years. Mount Sinai said it brought in about 1,400 temporary nurses to maintain operations.
The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances, though the medical centers insisted they were prepared and committed to meet patients’ needs.
