Our history

In 1979, the elected registered nurse leaders at Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) in Brooklyn, now NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn, wanted more effective representation. They decertified the New York State Nurses’ Association (NYSNA) as their bargaining representative and carried out a comprehensive search to find a different union that they thought would better serve their interests. The choice of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), with deeper expertise in collective bargaining and its commitment to strong advocacy on behalf of members, was unanimous and the Federation of Nurses/UFT was formed after a successful National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election for representation.

Since then, the Federation of Nurses/UFT has been the only union in New York City to consistently succeed in obtaining on-time contracts for its registered nurse members at NYU Lutheran Medical Center and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, whose nurses had also left NYSNA.

Erica Berger

Preparing to vote are registered nurses (from left) Bella Felker, Maureen Zembricki and Tatyana Tsyrulnik.

In 1994 the union added to its membership the registered nurses at Staten Island University Hospital — South Site; in 1997 nurses and homecare professionals at the Jewish Home & Hospital joined our union and have since become a part of our voice in home healthcare; in 2002 the licensed practical nurses at the Visiting Nurse Service joined our team; and in 2012 we successfully organized several hundred nurses at Guildnet. In 2015, registered nurses at NYU Lutheran Augustana also joined the union.