NYC Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders join striking nurses on picket line
By Aziza Shuler, Lisa Rozner
Click here for updates on this story
NEW YORK (WCBS) — There’s no end in sight for the New York City nurses strike, which has stretched into its second week.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders joined striking nurses on the picket line on the West Side Tuesday.
Hospitals and emergency rooms remain open as the nurses rallied outside. The health systems impacted are Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian.
Hundreds of nurses gathered outside Mount Sinai West on 10th Avenue, and heard from Mamdani and Sanders.
Sanders spoke at the podium first, saying it’s unfair how hospital executives are paid millions, but a contract with better pay for nurses cannot be negotiated.
“Don’t tell me you can’t provide a good nurse-staff ratio when you are paying your CEO at NewYork-Presbyterian $26 million a year, the CEO at Montefiore $16 million a year, Mount Sinai $5 million a year,” he said.
Mamdani’s appearance on Tuesday marked his second day joining the picket line. The mayor stood by nurses on the first day of their strike.
“This is about safe working conditions. This is about a fair contract. This is about dignity. And today is day nine – day nine – of those demands, and I want you to know that wherever I go in New York City, I hear about the plight of our nurses,” Mamdani said. “Now is your time of need, where we can ensure that this is a city that you don’t just work in but a city that you can also live in.”
Mamdani said he is pushing for all sides to go back to the negotiating table to achieve a “swift and urgent resolution.”
The nurses went on strike nine days ago, and say they’re not backing down from what they’re demanding of the city’s three major hospital systems – NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Health, and Montefiore
Negotiations remain at a standstill, and no additional negotiations are scheduled. NewYork-Presbyterian said it’s working with a mediator to schedule the next bargaining session.
The New York State Nurses Association is calling for better staffing ratios, protection from workplace violence, and improved healthcare benefits.
“We are so fortunate to have the support of our community and allies, who truly energize our movement as we picket through the bitter cold,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said. “We need hospital management to understand that we are out here fighting for the safety of our patients and nurses, so that every patient can have a qualified nurse at their bedside. Hospital management must take action to maintain our health benefits, guarantee enforceable safe staffing, and make hospitals safer workplaces.”
The hospitals continue to push back, calling the union’s demands unreasonable. NewYork-Presbyterian says its nurses are among the highest paid in the city, and says NYSNA’s demands for a 25% wage hike over three years are “unrealistic.”
“Despite our best efforts to negotiate, a near-term path to an agreement is very unlikely,” Mt. Sinai Health CEO Brendan Carr said in a statement Monday. “Over the weekend, our operational teams extended our plans to run the Health System without the support of the nurses NYSNA leadership has convinced to strike,”
A Montefiore spokesperson told CBS News New York, in part, “until they can back away from their reckless and dangerous $3.6 billion demands, progress overall will not be possible.”
“Our nurses are among the highest paid in the city, with a current average annual compensation of $163,000,” a rep from NewYork-Presbyterian said. “NYSNA’s demands remain unrealistic – its latest proposals include an approximately 25% wage increase over three years.”
Hundreds of nurses have shown up each day on the picket line, through all kinds of weather. Many say they’d rather been inside caring for patients, but until there’s progress, they’re staying put.
“I’ve been loyal to them since my 20s. I’ve always been there and made so many sacrifices – holidays, leaving my family,” one nurse said.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.