For Immediate Release: Feb. 9, 2024
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Diana Moreno | press@nysna.org | 917-327-2302
NYSNA Nurses and Healthcare Professionals Deliver Strike Notices at Northwell Health LIJ Valley Stream and Peconic
Approximately 700 NYSNA Healthcare Workers to Start Strike on Feb. 21 Unless Agreements Reached
Long Island, N.Y.— Approximately 700 New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses at Northwell Health/ Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Valley Stream and Peconic Bay Medical Center (Peconic) are planning to strike. Nurses have been at the bargaining table for months demanding safe staffing and fair wages that will help recruit and retain nurses.
Today, NYSNA members at LIJ Valley Stream and Peconic marched to their hospital administators’ offices to deliver 10-day strike notices, notifying management that they intend to strike starting Feb. 21 unless tentative contract agreements can be reached beforehand. The notice gives hospitals time to plan care for patients while nurses and healthcare professionals are on strike. However, the best way for management to protect patient care is to listen to healthcare workers and settle fair contracts.
On Feb. 1, NYSNA members at both LIJ Valley Stream and Peconic voted by a margin of 99.5% to authorize a strike after seeing little progress in negotiations. Despite the overwhelming support for striking, NYSNA healthcare professionals hope to bargain as much as possible between now and Feb. 21 to reach an agreement to avert a strike. NYSNA members at Peconic are at the bargaining table today.
Yesterday, NYSNA launched an advertising campaign that focuses on Northwell’s high executive pay, while its healthcare workers at Peconic are some of the lowest paid on Long Island. A new public website reveals, “Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling made $7.7 million dollars in 2021 in salary, bonus and perks.”
The Long Island Federation of Labor and 22 labor unions also sent their own message to Northwell Health CEO, Michael Dowling. In a letter delivered earlier this week, they took aim at private hospitals’ pursuit of profits and said, “We call on Northwell Health to immediately deliver and finalize a fair contract. Do the right thing.”
Nancy Hagans, RN, President of the New York State Nurses Association, said: “Our 700 members at Northwell have the full support of NYSNA’s 42,000 members around the state. Their fight for a fair contract is our fight, and we are ready to strike. We hope Northwell does the right thing and comes to the table in good faith to deliver a fair contract for healthcare workers and our patients before Feb. 21.”
NYSNA local leader at LIJ Valley Stream Sandra Armstrong, RN, stated: "We don’t work on Wall Street; we work right here on Franklin Ave. We don’t want to go on strike, but Northwell seems to only care about investing in advertisements, infrastructure, and executive pay. We’re asking them to invest in our patients. That’s why I became a nurse. That’s why we’re united in our fight for quality patient care, and we are ready to fight for the contract nurses and our patients deserve."
Chris Honor, RN, BSN, CAPA, local president at Peconic and NYSNA Southeastern Regional Director, said: “We, the nurses and healthcare professionals of Peconic, are united. We have our eye on the prize — a fair contract with safe staffing that will allow us to retain healthcare workers and provide excellent patient care. We see striking as a last resort, but I’m confident because my colleagues are confident that we must do what it takes because we are committed to doing what’s best for our patients. If that means going on strike, we are ready.”
John Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor, said: “On behalf of the Long Island Federation of Labor and the 250,000 union members and their families we represent, we stand in solidarity with the nurses in NYSNA and healthcare professionals at Peconic Bay Medical Center and Long Island Jewish (LIJ)-Valley Stream Hospitals who made the difficult, yet necessary decision to go on strike. We support them in their effort to secure a fair contract. At a time when hospital CEO and executive pay is out of control, it is unconscionable that our healthcare heroes would not be paid fairly with safe working conditions. Long Island is facing a crisis in hiring and retaining healthcare workers. Northwell must do the right thing and provide fair compensation and safe staffing levels to ensure our communities are provided the best patient care.”
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.
