UMCNO nurses deliver notice for Unfair Labor Practice strike starting May 1.

Nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans (UMCNO) in Louisiana today gave notice to their employer, LCMC Health, that they will hold an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike for five days starting May 1, 2026. This notice follows a ULP charge against UMCNO filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, April 20, charging the hospital’s management has spent more than two years intentionally dragging out and frustrating negotiations through bad-faith bargaining.

Union nurses recognize this as a sloppy and hackneyed attempt to stymie real attempts at agreeing to a contract. In response, nurses’ upcoming strike will be a demonstration to management that UMCNO nurses will continue to fight for a historic union contract that improves patients care and working conditions at one of the most important hospitals in the city, state, and region.

Who: Nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans
What: Five-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike
When: Friday, May 1st, 7 a.m. to Wednesday, May 6, 6:59 a.m.
Where: University Medical Center, 2000 Canal Street New Orleans, Louisiana; at the corner of Canal St. and S. Galvez St.

“I never would’ve imagined that UMCNO and LCMC management would drag this out for as long as they have,” said Umer Mukhtar, RN in the medical intensive care unit at UMCNO and a member of the nurse bargaining team. “We want a contract that allows us to provide the best care possible to the people of New Orleans. LCMC apparently doesn’t believe that laws about good-faith bargaining apply to them, so we are striking to hold them accountable to get what our patients deserve.”

“Our patients have waited for too long,” said Kisha Montes, RN in the behavioral health unit and another member of the nurse bargaining team. “Our working conditions are directly related to the healing environment we provide, and everything we’re asking for will make UMCNO better for patients. LCMC loves to claim they represent the ‘Spirit of Charity,’ but if that’s true, why can’t they simply bargain with us in good faith?”

UMCNO nurses have been in negotiations since March 2024 for a new contract with little to no indication that UMCNO and LCMC management intend to come to a settlement. Nurses urge management to engage in good faith bargaining and agree to a contract that addresses issues like recent findings that UMCNO has the longest emergency room wait times in the state.

Nurses give at least 10 days of advance notice to the hospital to allow for alternative plans to be made for patient care during a strike.

More than 600 UMCNO nurses who officially voted to unionize in December 2023 are represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s largest and fastest growing nurses union.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.