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Northwell Health announced “tentative agreements” with New York State Nurses Association that will avert a strike at three major Long Island hospitals.
A Northwell spokesperson released a statement:
“From the start of negotiations, our goal has been to reach a fair contract that supports our valued nurses and upholds the high standard of care our patients and community trust. This agreement reaffirms our commitment of enabling a supportive work environment and provides our nurses with competitive compensation and benefits. We are pleased to move forward together and continuing to provide exceptional care for those we serve.”
Negotiators have been pushing for better staffing, safer working environments and better pay and benefits.
Patricia Dowling, a nurse at Huntington Hospital, says the new contracts include increased wages and a promise to hire 16 additional nurses at her hospital. She also says the biggest win is new staffing language in the contracts that lower nurse to patient ratios.
“The nurses will get a manageable patient load, and that will eventually lead to retention and recruitment and less burnout. So that's a definitely a win-win for us,” Dowling said.
The agreement averts a strike at Huntington, Plainview and Syosset hospitals. News 12 reported Friday that nurses at both Syosset Hospital and Plainview Hospital came to a tentative contract agreement.
The tentative contracts will be presented to union members, and Dowling says they’ll have a ratification vote on Tuesday.
New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans issued a statement Saturday afternoon, saying:
“We are very proud of what our Long Island members achieved in their fight against Northwell, the state’s largest private employer. The agreements improve safe staffing for patients and nurses, maintain benefits for nurses, and include respectful wage increases. We are very proud of this agreement and that averted a strike, but Northwell continued to fight nurses on the safe staffing our communities need and there is still work to be done. This is an important step in improving care and we will continue to fight to improve care until our communities get what they deserve.”
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