TOMORROW: NYC Public Hospital Nurses to Rally at Bellevue Hospital to Demand Fair Contract

New York, N.Y.— On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 12 PM, NYSNA nurses who work for NYC public hospitals and mayoral agencies will hold a rally at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Nurses are calling on Mayor Adams to do the right thing for racial and healthcare justice for New Yorkers and settle a fair contract with nurses that will help to recruit and retain enough caregivers at the bedside.

According to data the city has shared, NYC spent over half a billion dollars on temporary travel nurse contracts in 2022 – largely to fill gaps created by the city paying staff nurses too little to be able to afford to stay at the bedside. Much of that money went to for-profit staffing companies instead of into the pockets of Black and Brown New Yorkers caring for their communities.

NYC could save hundreds of millions of dollars and solve the crisis of high turnover and chronic understaffing by raising pay for public hospital nurses, who make nearly $20,000 less a year than their private sector counterparts.

City officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander, are also raising concerns about the high costs and implications for standards of care with NYC Health+Hospitals’ reliance on temporary travel nurses. According to Politico, his office sent a letter last week demanding data and documents related to the public system’s spending with temporary staffing agencies.

WHAT: Nurses Rally at Bellevue for Pay Equity & Racial Justice

WHO: NYC Public Hospital & Mayoral Agency Nurses, Allies, and Elected Leaders, including City Council Labor Chair Carmen De La Rosa, City Council Hospitals Chair Mercedes Narcisse, Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU, Reverend Kirsten John Foy

WHERE: Bellevue Hospital, 462 1st Ave in Manhattan

WHEN: Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 12 PM

VISUALS: Hundreds of NYSNA nurses with signs rallying