Three years after forming a union, nurses at Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.-based NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital are urging hospital management to agree to a contract they say would help alleviate staffing issues at the facility, according to Spectrum News 1.
The more than 200 nurses have been without a contract since joining the New York State Nurses Association in December 2018.
During bargaining, hospital management has refused to respond to a counter proposal for the past two negotiating sessions, union spokesperson Carl Ginsburg told Becker's.
"So, the bargaining unit is ending the year with no more dates and no settlement," Mr. Ginsburg said. "We will be moving into 2022 with negotiations at the beginning of the year." .
According to Renee Mauro, a veteran nurse in Hudson Valley Hospital's maternity unit, the lack of a union contract has largely contributed to staffing shortages, Spectrum News 1 reported.
"Four babies in the NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit] and one NICU nurse, that's unsafe," she told the news channel. "They can't then come to the high-risk delivers or the [cesarean] sections, so that puts the babies at risk, too."
The lack of a contract also means there have been no raises for nurses this year, according to the union, which is negotiating nurse-to-patient ratios in the labor deal.
In a statement shared with Becker's, Hudson Valley Hospital said it "respect[s] and appreciate[s] our nurses" and is continuing to "bargain in good faith to reach a reasonable contract agreement."
The hospital also noted that the pandemic has been a large factor in the pace of negotiations.
Several negotiating sessions are scheduled throughout January and into February.