New York City nurses strike outside Mount Sinai Hospital
More than 7,000 nurses at two New York City hospitals began a walkout at 6 a.m. Monday after contract negotiations broke down overnight. (@ashleymac02 / POLITICALLY+ /TMX)
New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a fiery speech supporting approximately 7,000 nurses on strike at two Big Apple hospitals Monday, asserted that the walk-out was not about money, but safety.
The nursing strike comes as COVID-19 deaths in New York state surged by 30% over the past month – the highest count since the beginning of 2022.
Joining the picket line outside Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, James reminded listeners that it was nurses who remained at the sides of patients when lockdown measures prevented visitors in 2020 when New York City became the ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic. She claimed that "not one elected official was around," either at nursing homes, while nurses remained a constant at the time.
"It was nurses who were there every day some days without PPE again sacrificing their own safety," James said. "That’s why this attorney general is here on behalf of the nurses because I know what they did. I know what they did, not only in hospitals but in nursing homes. I know how many people died. I remember the bodies. I remember the caskets. And none of you were around. Not one elected official was around – but the only individuals that remained around and remained consistent, were nurses!"
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks outside Mount Sinai Hospital during nurse strike. (Fox News)
James, who investigated disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the nursing home scandal, did not name Cuomo’s predecessor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, directly Monday, but someone in the crowd was caught on the press conference audio shouting, "Tell, Kathy," during the attorney general’s remarks.
Mount Sinai Hospital alone reportedly has some 550 vacancies and nurses supposed to only have two intensive care unit patients at a time have been forced to care for several more and work long hours to counteract extended staffing shortages. Montefiore hospitals nurses were also on strike Monday.
"I’m here today because the nurses have stood with this city and this state and this nation during a time when we needed them most. They sacrificed not only their own personal safety, but that of their loved ones. They were there for us in the darkest of hours, and that’s why we, I am there for them," James said. "When loved ones couldn’t get to family members who were dying, it was nurses who held their hands. It was nurses who took videos and shared with family members. It was nurses who basically told family members the condition of their loved ones."
Nurses picketed outside Mount Sinai Hospital Monday, (New York State Nurses Association/ POLITICALLY+ /TMX)
"They wear red because this is about compassion, this is about heart and their heart is in this. This is not about money. Let’s be clear – It’s not about money," James added. "The one issue that they care about most, my friends, is the enforcement of the law."
Last year, a law was passed in New York state which required safe staffing, meaning the imposition of ratios from patients to nurses, but James asserted it was never enforced, and nurses have to work overtime caring for too many patients at a time both "at the peril" of patients and themselves.
NYSNA Montefiore nurses on strike Monday morning. (New York State Nurses Association/ POLITICALLY+ /TMX)
"No excuses that you can’t find adequate staffing. That’s an excuse. And we reject and refuse to accept that excuse. You can go to the nursing schools," James said, noting that while full-time nurses are on the picketing lines, temporary nurses have been hired in anticipation of the strike.
"If you can do it now, you should have did it then," the attorney general said. "That is what this strike is about, not money, but safety. Not money, but safety."
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The crowd chimed in, "not money, but safety."
"My message is clear. Department of Health, enforce the law," James concluded.
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