NYSNA nurses unite and win new contracts
RNs at three Montefiore hospitals organize together
Staff report
National Nurse magazine - Jan | Feb | March 2024 Issue
Montefiore Health System is the largest health care system in the Bronx, with near monopoly power. To increase its profits, Montefiore has been rapidly expanding north of New York City into the Lower Hudson Valley in recent years, buying up community hospitals and consolidating its market share.
New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses at Lower Hudson Valley Montefiore hospitals responded to this consolidation with their own organizing and power-building strategies to ensure Montefiore puts patients over profits. Members at all three hospitals lined up their contract expiration dates and began working together on a shared bargaining platform and a shared strategy to win fair contracts, with their eyes on a Dec. 31, 2023, expiration date.
Although nurses at the three hospitals had different contracts and some different challenges, they were united in their calls for safe staffing and fair wages. Uniting as “One Monte,” they launched their contract campaign with a rally at Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital in November 2023. The rally brought together nurses from the three Lower Hudson Valley hospitals as well as nurses from Montefiore Bronx hospitals and community, labor, and elected allies.
Nurses spoke out about the understaffing and retention crisis plaguing all three hospitals, exacerbated by low salaries that made it difficult to compete with other hospitals in the region. Nurses at Nyack highlighted the 25 percent vacancy rate that threatened quality patient care, and Mount Vernon nurses spoke about rising workplace violence propelled by understaffing. Nurses demanded that hospital administrators settle fair contracts on time — and they reminded them that Montefiore Bronx members had gone on strike less than one year ago.
Tracy McCook, RN, a veteran nurse from Montefiore Mount Vernon, said: “We’ve been dealing with a mental health crisis for years here, but it seems to have escalated since the start of Covid-19. When we don’t have enough staff and you have patients coming in suicidal, homicidal, it requires a higher level of care, and we can’t meet that demand. This puts the safety of nurses and our patients at risk.
As negotiations progressed, the nurses mobilized and built momentum and solidarity by holding regular meetings and leveraging social media platforms. When the bosses dug their heels in at the bargaining table, nearly 800 nurses across the three facilities voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
On Dec. 19, members and supporters rallied outside Montefiore Nyack Hospital to announce the results of the strike vote — 96 percent voted to strike. Anna Marie Perkins, RN, a veteran nurse at Montefiore Nyack, described why nurses were ready to strike. “Nurses are overwhelmed,” said Perkins. “They go home at the end of the day knowing they weren’t able to give the patients the care they wanted to and can’t sleep at night because of this. We need to change this. We need enforceable staffing ratios to protect our patients and our nurses’ mental and physical health!”
Melissa Ricketts, RN, a nurse from Montefiore New Rochelle, put Montefiore on notice, saying, “Safe staffing is No. 1 for New Rochelle. As individual nurses, we do our best every day, but it’s sad when patients can tell how understaffed we are. Patients deserve better. They deserve quality care. But as individuals, there’s nothing more we can do — the hospitals need to make a move.”
After the rally, NYSNA nurses headed back to the bargaining table. As the contract expiration date approached, Montefiore Mount Vernon was the first hospital to fall, reaching a tentative agreement that included historic wage increases in line with pay standards at Montefiore Bronx facilities. Nurses also won strengthened safe staffing enforcement language, improved health care benefits, no pension givebacks, increased tuition refunds, new mentorship programs, and increased preceptor and charge pay.
New Rochelle nurses were the next to win contract gains. Finally, after a marathon 24-hour bargaining session on the eve of the contract expiration, Montefiore Nyack yielded, averting a strike and delivering a fair contract for nurses and patients. Nurses at Nyack also won safe staffing ratios in their contract for the first time and secured entry into the NYSNA pension for the first time — a milestone decades in the making.
As the dust settles on the One Monte campaign, its legacy reverberates with NYSNA nurses throughout the state who are strategizing together, taking on common employers and demanding their fair share. Congratulations to the One Monte nurses for their unwavering commitment and for setting a high standard for nurse solidarity and collective action.