Negotiations are expected to resume between the nurses' union and Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside / West on Friday, while no talks are scheduled with the two other hospital systems, NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore.
"It takes two to negotiate. NYSNA nurses respect the mediators and are ready and willing to come to the bargaining table when they call," said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans in a statement. "We urge hospital executives to do the same. Hospitals are willing to keep frontline nurses out in the cold instead of at the bedsides of our patients where we want to be."
Mount Sinai said in statement, that while they continue to work toward a deal, they "have extended our contracts for agency nurses to ensure we have a workforce willing to provide care to our patients."
The latest developments come after negotiations between the nurses' union and NewYork-Presbyterian on Thursday night ended with no resolution.
NewYork-Presbyterian released this statement, saying: "There is currently no plan to bargain today. We are working with the mediator to schedule the next session."
The night prior, the hospital said,
"Discussions focused on staffing. The union's proposals remain unreasonable. While we continue to be far apart, we are committed to bargaining in good faith. Future meetings will be scheduled through the mediator. We are committed to safe staffing and have the best staffing ratios in the city. All the affected hospitals and emergency departments remain open and are running smoothly."
Nurses say their eyes are on the bullseye, as they've laid out their demands for increased staffing levels, better pay, and safety improvements.
"The most feedback we've gotten is they think the staffing is great and there was or they've rejected outright a lot of our proposals around staffing," said nurse, Beth Loudin, who was in the meeting. "I think they are trying to see if we will break."
While nurses remain away from their patients, operations continue with the help of traveling nurses secured by the hospital.
But it's unclear how long this may go on as they bridge the gap for the thousands who walked off the job.
All of the hospitals impacted by the strike have stressed that they will remain open.
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