Over 1,000 Filipino nurses participated on the strike of 7000 nurses from Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, after the two hospitals and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) failed to reach an agreement.
Most of the nurses’ complaints stem from understaffing. There are currently 550 nursing vacancies, which means that they are now caring for twice the patients, and are technically working 24 hours a day.
Meanwhile, the hospitals promised the nurses a 19.1% compounded salary rise, to which they still refused which resulted in a negotiating stalemate.
The Department of Health and Human Resources and the New York Attorney General are already on the case determining how the issue can be solved.
The Philippine Consulate General in New York expressed its hope that the problem will be handled quickly in a statement.
“When New York City became the epicenter of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, our kababayan nurses stayed true to their oath to care for the sick and the dying, sometimes at the expense of their very own lives, For their compassion, dedication, and selflessness, their call for better employment terms and conditions should be heeded,”
Due to the strike, hospital operations such as appointments and elective surgeries had to be rescheduled or postponed.