Staten Island Nurses to Strike on April 2

Staten Island, N.Y.– Today, Thursday, March 21,  Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH)/ Northwell) nurses delivered a strike notice to management. The 1,300 NYSNA members at SIUH-Northwell will go on strike on April 2nd unless hospital administrators agree to a fair union contract that keeps enough experienced nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care to Staten Island. 

A video of nurses delivering their strike notice can be found here. Media outlets have permission to use all videos and pictures from NYSNA’s social media feeds with credit to NYSNA. 

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: "NYSNA's 42,000 members are in solidarity with our nurses at Northwell-Staten Island University Hospital. Northwell needs to come to the table and do right by Staten Island nurses and patients. They cannot continue to invest in new buildings and their corporate brand at the expense of investing in safe patient care and the nurses who make this hospital run." 

SIUH-Northwell nurse and NYSNA’s elected bargaining unit president at the hospital, Lillian Decker, MSN, RN, CCRN, said, “We don’t want to strike, but we are ready to strike if Northwell gives us no other choice. I was born and raised in this community, and this is where all my family and friends live. Northwell shelled out to buy a baseball stadium, but they’re not investing in safe care for Staten Island. Northwell tells one story in their extravagant ad campaign, but here at the hospital we see a different, bleaker story. Every day we see how nurses are burnt out, expected to do the job of more than one person, and being forced to find better jobs off Staten Island.” 

SIUH-Northwell nurse John Vuolo, RN, said, “I was born here at this hospital just over 28 years ago. My dream was always to work here at the very same hospital where I was born and serve my community. But, as the cost of living goes up in New York City, it’s harder and harder for me to justify staying here when our pay at Staten Island University Hospital is so much lower than at other hospitals throughout the city. Without fair wages and safe staffing at our hospital, nurses like me are going to continue to leave for better jobs elsewhere, and that’s not good for Staten Island. We’re calling on Northwell to do better and invest in our community.”

SIUH-Northwell nurse Elaine Minew, said, “I’ve lived in Staten Island my whole life and started serving my community at age 19 as a volunteer EMT. Nothing is more important to me than making sure that my community has the care they need. But, too often at SIUH we don’t have enough nurses at the bedside to provide quality patient care. Northwell seems more focused on corporate expansion than on having enough nurses to care for my family, friends, and community here on Staten Island. Nurses never want to go on strike, but we’ll do whatever it takes to protect Staten Island patients.”

Northwell recently announced a $19.2 billion merger with Nuvance Health but eliminated pharmacists on the hospital floors of SIUH, forcing nurses away from patient bedsides for sometimes an hour or more to seek out urgently needed medications.

Northwell is opening a new birthing center building in Staten Island, yet has failed to provide a safe staffing plan for the facility. Nurses are concerned about how unsafe staffing levels could hurt moms and babies in Staten Island. While spending big on mergers, expansions, and ad campaigns, Northwell has said at the bargaining table that regardless of any increases in patient traffic or new buildings or units, they will not increase nurse staffing to meet the needs of the Staten Island community. Staten Island nurses say they are focused on quality care for their own community, but that Northwell cares more about making money than investing in safe staffing. 

Last week, nurses held a speak-out in front of the hospital and announced that they had voted in favor of authorizing a strike by over 97 percent. Nurses say that they want to stay in Staten Island to care for their community, but many are forced to seek work off the island because of below-market pay at SIUH and frequent understaffing that makes it impossible to provide the level of care their patients deserve.

The strike authorization vote came on the heels of overwhelming strike votes at other NYSNA-represented facilities, including most recently Northwell Long Island Jewish Valley Stream, Peconic Bay Medical Center, and South Shore University Hospital on Long Island. Those Northwell hospitals settled fair contracts with NYSNA nurses and averted strikes. Approximately a year ago, 7,000 NYSNA nurses at two New York City hospitals went on strike before reaching historic contract agreements. The Northwell-SIUH contract expires on March 31.  

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