On January 12, 15,000 New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members walked off the job for the largest nursing strike in New York history. A month later, nurses from two out of three hospital systems went back to work. They reported feeling financially drained and “betrayed” by the union that sent them to the picket line. It’s a lesson in false union promises and what can realistically be achieved at the bargaining table.
Nurses Were Set Up for Disappointment
NYSNA had set an aggressive target. They wanted $220,000 base salaries for nurses, up from the current average of approximately $160,000. The contract that these nurses ratified, after losing their paychecks for a month, was something altogether different.
Nurses from Mount Sinai and Montefiore hospital systems returned with a contract featuring 12% raises spread over three years. Even measured against NYSNA’s own track record at these hospitals, that’s a step backward. In 2023, nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore received 18% raises after striking. They fared worse this time, and the gap between union claims and what transpired is impossible to ignore.
“We Are All Out of Money”
The frustration among rank-and-file members has been palpable. Nurses returning to work have used the word “betrayed” while citing a lack of communication from union leadership throughout the strike and negotiations. One nurse emphasized that she was ready to get back to work because “we are all out of money,” a statement that suggests a related question: Where was the union’s financial support for members?
Well, that support may not have been there. NYSNA members pay union dues in exchange for representation. Yet rather than providing traditional, guaranteed weekly strike pay, NYSNA uses a donation-driven, needs-based “Protected Action Hardship Relief Fund.” The union has not publicly disclosed how much money nurses received from this fund, or what hoops members had to jump through to get it.
Two Years to Break Even, Or More
The math remains sobering. Assuming a nurse earns the current average salary of $160,000, going on strike cost her approximately $3,077 per week in lost wages, or roughly $12,308 over a four-week period. For those who ratified the 12% raise, averaged out to 4% per year, that amounts to an approximately $6,044 increase. Under those figures, a nurse would need to work at least two years just to recoup wages lost during the strike. That’s assuming she received nothing from the relief fund or unemployment benefits, which in New York require a 14-day waiting period before applying for those on strike.
Meanwhile, 4,200 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system remain on strike.
A “Historic” Strike, A Hollow Outcome
When the NYSNA strike began, nurses chose to sacrifice weeks of income because they received promises of transformational gains, only to receive an outcome that didn’t match union-planted expectations. This strike was also costly for hospitals, which reportedly had to shell out over $100 million to hire temporary replacements. Only NYSNA appears to have benefited. They’ve retained members’ dues while delivering far less than promised. Hopefully, word will spread that union membership doesn’t pay.
