New nurse contract a win for nurses and patients

fter months of contract negotiations and 8,000 grievances, nurses at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn successfully ratified a new two-year contract, just one day before their contract was set to expire, averting a strike.

“We achieved a hard-fought contract focusing on appropriate staffing for nurses to function optimally and provide quality patient care as well as competitive salaries to recognize our exceptional staff,” said United Federation of Teachers Vice President Anne Goldman, head of the Federation of Nurses/UFT.

The new two-year contract raises nurse salaries 9.25 percent for the first year, and 6 percent the second year and requires the hiring of 100 new full-time nurses.

“I am making my rounds and running into members and everyone is saying, thank you. The majority of them are so happy,” said Moncef Righi, Federation of Nurses/UFT chapter leader at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn.

The pay increases will ensure that members are making the same money as nurses at surrounding hospitals and help stem high turnover rates at the hospital, he said. “I am so glad we were able to finally catch up with the other hospitals in the area,” Righi said.

Educating hospital administration has been the key to their success, said Righi. “We did our research. For staffing, we had to provide them with all the numbers, and we really had to teach them about what was going on in the hospital.” Backed by data, negotiators targeted specific departments for additional staff. For instance, ER visits have increased from 77,000 to 96,000 this year alone, contributing to chronic short staffing issues.

In addition to significant pay increases for the 1,000-nurse unit, the new contract also includes bonuses for nurses who remain in the same unit and shift for 18 months, which Righi said will help with retention and patient care. The new contract also guarantees an employer-paid pension and premium-free healthcare.

Safe staffing ratios continue to be a significant issue at hospitals across the country. According to the AFT’s “Healthcare Staffing Shortage Task Force Report,” one in five healthcare clinicians have quit their jobs since 2020.

In New York, NYSUT successfully lobbied to get the “Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act” signed into law in 2021. The legislation addresses acute care facilities and nursing homes, and the union is lobbying for additional legislation that would address hospitals.

In the meantime, UFT worked hard to help nurses at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn use their contract to ensure safe staffing levels. In their last contract, they were able to spell out what staffing levels should be in units across the hospital and when those levels were violated, they filed grievances. In the past three years, nurses at NYU Langone–Brooklyn filed 8,000 staff-related grievances with UFT’s help.

The goal of the grievances was to deter the hospital from short staffing and to ensure nurses are fairly compensated for extra work. The grievances have led to a combined $1 million in back pay for nurses who work understaffed shifts and supported the local’s case for hiring additional nursing staff.