Filipino nurses affected by strike in two New York City hospitals
By Jaleen Ramos
Several Filipino nurses were affected after more than 7,000 nurses from two big hospitals in New York City went on strike on Monday, Jan. 9.
According to the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the walkout, which involves more than 7,000 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, started at 6 a.m.
This came about after the management of the two hospitals and the NYSNA failed to reach an agreement after several negotiations for a higher pay and increased staffing.
“After bargaining late into the night at Montefiore and Mount Sinai Hospital yesterday, no tentative agreements were reached. Today, more than 7,000 nurses at two hospitals are on strike for fair contracts that improve patient care,” the NYSNA said in a statement.
“To all of our patients, to all New Yorkers, we want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike. Patients should seek hospital care immediately if they need it. We would rather be the ones providing that care, but our bosses have pushed us to be out here instead,” it added.
The nurses noted that the understaffing had forced them to attend to an excessive number of patients at once.
"Nurses don't want to strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients," the union said in a separate statement.
Filipina Nurse Lorena Vivas, an NYSNA executive committee member for Mount Sinai Hospital, said the management of Mount Sinai Hospital did not agree to the staffing implementation so the negotiations ended in a deadlock.
“Ayaw nila sa staffing implementation. 'Yan ang problema namin. This is not about the money. What this is about is safe staffing. Ang gusto namin ma-ensure na magtatrabaho kami na sapat ang staff kasi ang nangyayari ngayon ang vacancy namin 550 (nurses). Ano ang ibig sabihin niyan? 'Pag nasa ICU ka, legally dalawa lang dapat ang inaalagaan mo. Eh naging apat (They don't like the staffing implementation. That's our problem. This is not about money. What this is about is safe staffing. We want to ensure that we will work with enough staff because what is happening now is we have a vacancy of 550 (nurses). What does that mean? 'When you are in the ICU, legally you should only care for two persons. It became four),” Vivas told GMA News in an interview.
“On top of that, kulang ang staff. Karamihan sa amin nagtatrabaho ng 24 hours kasi naaawa kami sa maiiwan na shift. Sa emergency room kapag nagpunta kayo doon, 20 pasyente per nurse. Paano mo maaalagaan 'yun? (There is not enough staff. Most of us work 24 hours because we feel sorry for the next shifts. In the emergency room, when you go there, 20 patients per nurse. How can you take care of that?)” she pointed out.
Pilar Liwanag, a special unit nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital, added that the safety of patients is being compromised.
"Kasi taga-special unit kami so galing kami ng ICU. Ang ratio kasi usually one nurse is to two eh. Ngayon triple, quadruple. Patients are very very sick so how can you manage four very very sick patients kung isa ka lang? Eh dapat two patients lang...We don't want to compromise patient safety. At stake safety ng license namin (Because we're from the special unit, so we're from the ICU. The ratio is usually one nurse is to two . Now it's triple, quadruple. Patients are very, very sick so how can you manage four very very sick patients if you're only one? It should only be two patients...We don't want to compromise patient safety because our license is at stake here),” she told GMA News.
Meanwhile, Montefiore Medical Center, in a statement, said it offered a 19.1 percent compounded wage increase to the nurses and committed to creating more than 170 new nursing positions prior to the strike.
“Despite Montefiore’s offer of a 19.1% compounded wage increase—the same offer agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions—and a commitment to create over 170 new nursing positions, and despite a call from Governor Hochul for arbitration, The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) leadership has decided to walk away from their patients,” it stated.
“Our patients are our top priority—our hospitals will remain open, and we remain committed to providing seamless and compassionate care to our community,” the hospital added.The Mount Sinai Hospital also issued a statement, saying the NYSNA "refused to accept the exact same 19.1 percent increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and disregarding the Governor's solution to avoid a strike." “The union is forcing Mount Sinai nurses to leave their patients during a Covid-19, flu, and RSV surge. This strike is reckless. New Yorkers deserve better,” it added.