Northwell Health nurses at 3 Long Island hospitals authorize strike without deal by Dec. 31

More than 1,000 nurses at three Northwell Health hospitals have voted to approve a strike following months of unfruitful contract negotiations, union representatives announced Tuesday.

Nurses at Huntington, Plainview and Syosset hospitals, represented by the New York State Nurses Association, overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike at their respective hospitals, largely over demands for increased staffing levels, nurses with the union said Monday.

The local strike authorization votes coincide with similar votes from approximately 20,000 NYSNA represented nurses at 12 hospitals in New York City, the union said. As a result of the votes, both on Long Island and in the city, the union has set a Dec. 31 deadline to reach contract deals or else nurses could go on strike.

"Northwell Health values and invests deeply in our nurses and the essential role they play in caring for our communities," said Barbara Osborn, deputy chief public relations officer at New Hyde Park-based Northwell, in a statement Monday.

"Our hospitals are engaged in ongoing, constructive negotiations with the New York State Nurses Association [NYSNA] and have consistently bargained in good faith," Osborn said. "Our focus remains on reaching a fair and responsible agreement that supports our nurses and ensures the continuity of high-quality, compassionate care our patients rely on."

Chris Coburn, 51, a registered nurse at Plainview Hospital, said there’s been little development on reaching a deal with Northwell. The three-year contract for nurses at his hospital expired Nov. 4.

"We’ve been in negotiations now for a few months," said Coburn, whose been involved in negotiating his and his colleague’s new contract. "It’s been really slow going."

The main sticking points in negotiations have been staffing levels and patient ratios, particularly in his hospital’s emergency room, he said.

"I’ve been a nurse for 29 years and I’ve seen such a major change in the bedside nursing that I do," Coburn said. He said during the COVID-19 pandemic, many experienced nurses left the field and it’s remained difficult to recruit or retain nurses.

As a result, Coburn said he’s seen nurses tend to nearly a dozen patients at a time, and the issue has only intensified since flu season began this year.

"What has become so much more difficult lately is the amount of work that a single bedside nurse is expected to do," he said. "It’s just a physical impossibility to keep up. It really needs to be addressed."

The three-year contract at Syosset Hospital expired on Oct. 12. Nurses at Huntington Hospital are negotiating for their first contract after voting to leave their previous union and joining NYSNA last year.