in January 2023 the three-day strike Mount Sinai Nysna Nurses  ended with groundbreaking agreements on safe staffing. We improved upon existing staffing standards—in some areas exceeding California nurse-to-patient ratios. This contract has stronger, precedent-setting staffing enforcement mechanisms, including expedited arbitration of staffing disputes and a new approach of including financial penalties when employers fail to uphold contractual safe staffing standards.This new contractual staffing language sets a high bar for other facilities in New York and is enforceable under New York’s hospital staffing committee law. We  won this contract because of nurses taking an active role in saying enough is enough and fighting for more. And this work is not over. It is just beginning. 

 We need to keep this momentum going as we begin to enforce these victories.