Public nurses protest working conditions, demand better pay

Nurses who serve New York’s Health + Hospitals, the largest network of public hospitals in the United States, rallied at three public New York hospitals on Thursday, June 22 to protest their working conditions. The nurses said that they are fed up because they are understaffed and underpaid. Protests were also held at the Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx and in Queens at H+H/ Kings County and H+H/Elmhurst.

At King’s County Hospital they gathered on Clarkson Avenue, in front of the hospital, chanting and holding signs, demanding the mayor negotiate with them for higher pay.

Nurse, and Kings County bargaining leader, Pauline Wallace, said the city has spent $401 million dollars between January and June on hiring private nurses alone. It is estimated that the city spends $1.5 million dollars on temporary nurses, per day. Additionally, the city has spent 1.2 billion dollars paying Rightsourcing, a private, for-profit, staffing company to hire private nurses to work in public hospitals.

NYC hired private nurses to work alongside the public sector Health + Hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic ended, the city has kept private nurses at public hospitals to help with understaffing.

Nurses protest working conditions and demand better pay outside the King’s County Hospital in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Photo by Ebony Prescod

The city pays these private nurses significantly more than the nurses in the public sector. Private nurses make 3.5 times more than New York City Health + Hospitals nurses. Pauline said it was unfair to ask public sector nurses to work beside the private sector nurses, do the same job, and receive less pay.

She said the low pay was also contributing to understaffing. “All the young nurses leave because the pay is no good,” she added.

But Pauline said this issue was not only about money, but about the community. “We treat everyone regardless of your [immigration] status,” she said. “We do care. So this hospital is very important to this neighborhood.”

New York Health + Hospital nurses hope these protests will jump-start stalled negotiations with the city, and they have said that they will continue protesting until their demands are met.

The nurses are expected to hold more protests on Saturday, June 24 at 12 noon: Henry J. Carter in Manhattan, 1752 Park Ave., Tuesday, June 27 at 12:30 p.m.: Queens Hospital Center, 82-68 164th St., and on Wednesday, June 28 at 1 p.m.: Harlem Hospital in Manhattan, 506 Lenox Ave.