Staten Island University Hospital Nurses Vote to Strike

On Wednesday, March 13, Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH)/ Northwell) nurses held a speak-out in front of their hospital and announced that they authorized their executive committee to call a strike if management fails to bargain a fair contract that protects care for Staten Island patients. Nurses voted in favor of strike authorization by over 97 percent. The 1,300 nurses at SIUH are represented by the New York State Nurses Association.

Nurses say that they want to stay in Staten Island to care for their community, but many are forced to seek work off the island because of below-market pay at SIUH and frequent understaffing that makes it impossible to provide the level of care their patients deserve.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “Nurses shouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck while keeping Staten Island safe and healthy. And Northwell shouldn’t be making cuts that make their jobs even harder while spending big on corporate expansions and fancy ad campaigns. Nurses on Staten Island deserve a fair contract with respectful raises and safe staffing. Northwell needs to do better by their nurses."

The average base pay for nurses at SIUH-Northwell is now $11,573 below the base pay at similar New York City hospitals. Northwell recently announced a $19.2 billion merger with Nuvance Health but eliminated pharmacists on the hospital floors of SIUH, forcing nurses away from patient bedsides for sometimes an hour or more to seek out urgently needed medications. Read more about the nurses' fight for a fair contract here, and click here for a livestream of the event.