Chapter News
Don’t ‘short’ patients
In 2021, nurses and patients secured a hard-won victory with the passage of the state Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act. The law, among other provisions, set up safe and reasonable staffing ratios. But New York City hospitals routinely flout the law, and the state Department of Health has failed to enforce it.
Nurse Recognition Day
The Federation of Nurses/UFT honored 21 nurses for their patient advocacy and activism in the face of a health care landscape that puts profits before patients during its annual Nurse Recognition Day awards dinner.
Fighting to put patients before profits
UFT Vice President Anne Goldman writes that hospital administrators driven by profit over patient care too often do not follow the nurse-to-patient ratios needed to safely care for patients. The Federation of Nurses/UFT is committed to continuing to expose such deficiencies and advocate for patients and the nursing profession.
New agreement for VNS Health nurses
Federation of Nurses/UFT members who are Licensed Nurses employed by VNS Health overwhelmingly ratified a contract on Jan. 29 that provides a 15% pay increase over two years, additional money for experience differentials and improvements in scheduling.
Revised nurses contract on Staten Island
The Federation of Nurses/UFT members at Staten Island University Hospital-South ratified a revised contract with Northwell Health that increases wages and steps and puts them on par with nurses at other unions that have negotiated contracts in the past 18 months.
UFT nurses’ arbitration victory
Federation of Nurses/UFT members employed by NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn won a significant victory in their long-running battle with the Sunset Park hospital over short staffing when an independent arbitrator on Dec. 1 sided with the union and ruled that the hospital must compensate nurses that work on short-staffed shifts.