Nurses union lowers demand for raises at Mount Sinai — as second week of bitter NYC strike winds down

It’s a smaller price to pay.

New York State Nurses Association union negotiators asked for smaller, 18% wage increases for nurses on strike at three Mount Sinai hospitals, officials confirmed Friday — as the historic walkout’s second week drew to a close.

The walked-back ask, which is down from the initial 30% over three years, would see nurses’ base wages rise 7% in the first year, 6% the following year and 5% in the third and final year, officials said.

But the union held firm on other demands for pay differentials and staffing, hinting the two sides still have ground at the bargaining table before the largest nurses strike in the city’s history ends.

“Mount Sinai negotiators said they would commit to a comprehensive analysis of NYSNA’s proposals, stressing the complexity of this process because of the numerous economic proposals that are impacted by the wage increases,” hospital officials said in a statement.

“Hospital negotiators also made clear that any counterproposal would be influenced by the fallout of the ongoing strike and significant employer expenses and lost revenue.”

Roughly 15,000 nurses with Mount Sinai, Montefiore Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian entered the strike’s 11th day Friday amid a bitter labor showdown over pay, benefits, staffing and workplace safety.

The two sides returned to the bargaining table Thursday after encouragement from Gov. Hochul and Mayor Mamdani, who boosted the nurses’ cause alongside his socialist hero Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The contracts are being separately negotiated with the hospital systems.

A nurse’s union representative previously said Mount Sinai nurses originally proposed 10% increases each year for three years but have since backed off.

The union contended all three hospital systems have demanded cuts to the nurses’ health benefits — an assertion that Mount Sinai officials denied.

“As nurses have said from the beginning, and as we’ve shown at the bargaining table, we are willing to negotiate on wages, but we are not willing to cut corners on patient and nurse safety,” a statement from the union read. “Nurses remain ready to bargain in good faith every day until we settle fair contracts that protect patients and nurses.”