By: Meyer Wolfsheim

New York City’s longest nursing strike may be approaching a turning point, as union leaders representing roughly 15,000 striking nurses are set to meet Monday with executives from three major hospital systems in a renewed effort to end the bitter walkout, as NY Post reported.

The talks will bring together representatives from the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and officials from Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore hospitals. Both sides say they have submitted revised proposals in hopes of breaking a 22-day stalemate that has paralyzed staffing across large swaths of the city’s health-care system, NY Post reported.

In a statement released Saturday, the nurses’ union said it streamlined its demands to encourage hospital leaders to negotiate seriously and reach a deal that would send nurses back to the bedside.

“We revised our proposals in an effort to bring hospital executives back to the table in good faith and settle fair contracts as quickly as possible,” NYSNA said, according to NY Post reported.

Hospital systems involved in the talks also struck a cautiously optimistic tone. In a joint statement, hospital representatives said they presented what they described as a responsible economic offer that includes annual wage increases while preserving existing health-care and pension benefits.

“We made a fair, reasonable, and responsible proposal under an economic structure that works for all parties, including safety-net hospitals,” hospital officials said, NY Post reported. They added that they are now reviewing the remaining union proposals in order to craft a comprehensive settlement offer aimed at ending the strike.

The dispute centers on pay, staffing levels, workplace safety and benefits. Hospital executives have argued that NYSNA’s original demands — including wage increases totaling 30% over three years — were unrealistic at a time when medical facilities are facing tightening budgets and reduced federal funding, NY Post reported.

Nurses, however, say the fight is about more than money. The union has emphasized concerns about unsafe staffing ratios, rising incidents of workplace violence, and the need for higher wages to recruit and retain experienced nurses in an increasingly strained health-care environment.

“NYSNA nurses are serious about settling fair contracts and getting back to work delivering quality care,” the union said, urging hospital leaders to end the strike and reinstate nurses immediately, NY Post reported.

While nurses earn an average salary of about $160,000 annually, union leaders argue that compensation has failed to keep pace with rising living costs and mounting job demands. They have also pointed to multimillion-dollar compensation packages for executives at nonprofit hospital systems as a source of resentment among frontline staff, NY Post reported.

Hospitals counter that they have already spent an estimated $100 million on traveling nurses and emergency staffing to keep facilities operational during the strike.