New York City nurses resumed contract negotiations on the 11th day of a strike that began Jan. 12, with talks involving Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian. About 15,000 nurses walked out, forcing hospitals to hire thousands of temporary staff. The union says it will bargain daily and continue picketing until tentative agreements are reached; nurses are pressing for protections for benefits, staffing and workplace safety. Hospitals call the pay demands unaffordable and deny plans to cut health benefits.
11th Day: 15,000 NYC Nurses Return to Bargaining Table as Strike Continues
Members of the New York State Nurses Association union picket outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
New York City nurses returned to the bargaining table Thursday on the 11th day of a strike that began Jan. 12, as union leaders and hospital administrators sought a path to a tentative agreement that could end the city's largest nursing walkout in decades.
The New York State Nurses Association said morning negotiations resumed with representatives from the three private hospital systems affected by the walkout: Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian. The union says its members are prepared to bargain every day until deals are reached.
Members of the New York State Nurses Association union picket outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
About 15,000 nurses walked off the job on Jan. 12, prompting hospitals to hire thousands of temporary staff to maintain clinical operations and patient care. Last week the union held one bargaining session with each of the three systems; those hourslong meetings produced little progress and did not produce a schedule for continued talks.
What Negotiators Are Fighting Over
Nurses are seeking stronger contract protections for health care benefits, clearer staffing-level guarantees and enhanced measures to protect staff from workplace violence. The union says those provisions are essential to patient safety and nurse retention.
Members of the New York State Nurses Association union picket outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Hospital leaders counter that the union's pay demands are unrealistic and unaffordable given current financial constraints. Hospitals also say they are not proposing cuts to nurses' health benefits, disputing the union's claims.
Union: "Nurses stand ready to bargain to reach fair contracts and end the strike," the New York State Nurses Association said in a statement ahead of Thursday's sessions.
Political Pressure And Public Shows Of Support
Renewed talks were held after appeals from Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani spoke at a union rally Tuesday outside Mount Sinai's Upper West Side hospital and was joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Members of the New York State Nurses Association union picket outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Each hospital system is negotiating independently because not every hospital run by the three systems is involved in the walkout. Other private systems have reached tentative agreements with the union and averted strikes; city-run public hospitals are not part of these negotiations.
The talks’ outcome will determine whether nurses return to work under new contracts or continue striking while bargaining continues.
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