Members of the New York State Nurses Association have called off a planned April 2 strike at New York City-based Staten Island University Hospital after reaching a tentative agreement with management on a new labor contract.
The union represents 1,300 workers at the facility, according to an NYSNA news release. SIUH is part of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, a 21-hospital system with more than 85,000 employees total.
Union members announced the tentative deal on March 30, saying that it includes improvements to safe staffing standards as well as stronger safe staffing enforcement.
More specifically, the agreement "adds nurse staffing on units that need help"; includes an expedited process for creating staffing standards in new units; and features wage increases that total 22.12% over three years and include annual pay increases, market adjustment pay, and experience pay, the union said.
The NYSNA plans to release more details about the agreement pending ratification. A ratification vote is slated to begin April 3.
SIUH/Northwell nurse and NYSNA bargaining committee member Elaine Minew, RN, said in a news release, "The safe staffing improvements we won in our tentative agreement make Staten Island a better place to live, work and receive care. Our goal is always to make sure that we have enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, and our tentative agreement helps us do exactly that by guaranteeing better staffing and more nurses hired where we need them the most."
A spokesperson from SIUH shared the following statement with Becker's: "Staten Island University Hospital is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with NYSNA. From the start of our negotiations, our focus remained on continuing to provide patients with world-class care.
"The agreement provides our valued nurses with market competitive compensation and benefits and ensures a safe, supportive working environment that enables them to provide exceptional care that our patients and community have come to trust."