Montefiore Statement on NYSNA Strike at Montefiore New Rochelle
Remarks as delivered by Marcos Crespo, Senior Vice President of Community Affairs, Montefiore Medicine
NEW YORK, November 30, 2020 – “Today, Montefiore New Rochelle is taking steps to protect the community because NYSNA leadership has chosen to go on strike during the latest surge of COVID-19.
In negotiations over the past 18-months we offered NYSNA:
- Over 7% in wage increases
- Medical expenses for retired nurses
- Tuition reimbursement of $7,500 per year
- Health insurance with no employee contributions
- Funding for the NYSNA Pension Fund
To most this would seem like a good deal, even in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic when hospitals and individuals are struggling financially.
NYSNA is striking because they want the power to dictate staffing assignments and hand out plum positions to their friends, while Montefiore believes the decisions on how to treat patients and make these assignments rests not with any one group alone, but with the entire team caring for the patient.
NYSNA is willfully misleading the public by suggesting that Montefiore New Rochelle is unprepared for the latest COVID-19 surge, when the truth is, in compliance with the Governor’s orders, MNR is stocked with 90 days of PPE for its employees. NYSNA is selfishly putting the community at risk and using COVID-19 as a political football.
We choose patients over NYSNA’s politics.
Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital will remain open but will enact contingency plans, including relocating patients to other facilities to ensure their safety."
