The New York State Nurses Association said about 30,000 of its members are launching a public campaign at healthcare facilities ahead of contract expiration dates.
The "We Love NY Nurses" public awareness campaign involves private and public sector nurses with contracts expiring on Dec. 31 or in early 2023. This includes nurses at 12 New York City hospitals, including Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, according to an Aug. 18 union news release. It also includes NYC Health + Hospitals nurses, whose contract expires in March.
"NYSNA nurses are physically tired, and we are especially tired of our employers using the pandemic as an excuse for why our working conditions and our patients' care conditions cannot be improved," union President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, said in an Aug. 18 news release shared with Becker's. "We are putting New York's hospitals on notice that we are united as one union — public and private, upstate and downstate — and ready to do whatever it takes to protect and win respect for nurses and our patients."
In a statement shared with Becker's, an NYC Health + Hospitals spokesperson said: "NYC Health + Hospitals nurses are critical members of our patient care team and we value their expertise, dedication and sacrifice, especially during the last few years when New York City found itself at the center of several health crises. We look forward to collaborating with the New York State Nurses Association to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement and we thank them for their continued partnership in delivering high-quality, comprehensive health care to all New Yorkers."
The campaign features a five-point platform that aims to "improve patient care, strengthen the nursing workforce and uplift communities." It also will include a website and an advertising campaign, launching this fall.
The union represents more than 42,000 nurses and other healthcare professionals in New York state.