Nurses at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn called off a potential strike on Friday, initially slated for Saturday, after negotiating a two-year contract with the hospital that secured an immediate raise to employee salaries and the hiring of 100 nurses to address complaints related to understaffing.
The contract outlined a 9.25% wage increase that took effect on Saturday and 6% increase set for March 2026, amounting to a 15.8% overall increase in annual salary. Nurses who have worked the same unit and shift for at least 18 months will also receive a one-time retention bonus ranging from $3,750 to $5,250, and the hospital will pay a combined $1 million to the nurses who worked the understaffed shifts.
The nurses, represented by the citywide union Federation of Nurses, threatened to strike last week if they didn’t reach an agreement with the hospital by Feb. 28.
Union head Anne Goldman said that after establishing the contract, the hospital posted job openings to recruit 100 full-time nurses and that the United Federation of Teachers — which oversees the nurses’ union — will be closely monitoring the process. In previous bargaining discussions, the nurses have said that a 100-person increase would not be enough to amend staffing shortages.
“We’re very happy that we concluded a contract, but our work continues because our employer has to move forward with the commitments they’ve made,” Goldman said in an interview with WSN. “They never admit wrongdoing, but they agreed to the remediation — the type of staff they have to hire and what they have to do — so that is a victory in terms of setting up a positive system.”
Goldman said the union has also met with NYU Langone administrators to recommend a staff-led onboarding process for new hires, in an effort to improve retention. She said that during contract negotiations, the union advocated for mentorship programs and two additional medical instructors. She also said she advised that the hospital prioritize adjusting the patient-to-nurse ratio in the emergency room as needed, depending on circumstances.
Over the past three years, the nurses have filed more than 8,000 grievances alleging that the Brooklyn hospital’s staffing practices violate New York state’s required nurse-to-patient ratio. Goldman said the nurses’ compensation for understaffed hours will likely be distributed over two pay cycles, although the exact dates for the payments have not been determined.
“The contract, which follows several months of negotiations between the hospital and the union, will support our nurses as they continue to drive exceptional patient care and the best outcomes for all of our patients,” NYU Langone spokesperson Steve Ritea said in a statement to WSN.
The nurses unionized in 2016 and have since consistently advocated for higher salaries and smaller nurse-to-patient ratios, having strengthened a subcommittee delegated specifically to understaffing concerns in 2022. That same year, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn became the first hospital in the borough to receive Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, one of the nation’s leading standards for measuring patient care quality.
“From beginning to end, this is a story of what it takes to run a successful hospital,” Goldman said. “It cannot happen unless the nurses have the team of help they need, competitive salaries and an employer that understands the greatest investment they can make is in their nurses.”
Contact Amanda Chen at [email protected].
