The UFT and the Federation of Nurses/UFT today accused the state health department of failing to enforce the safe staffing law passed by the legislature nearly three years ago. 

"In the years since New York State overwhelmingly passed the safe-staffing law to protect patients, we have seen little to no action taken by the state Health Department to turn the law into reality," said Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents hundreds of private-sector nurses. 

"The state Health Department has ignored the law, and allowed hospitals to violate the law unchecked," said Anne Goldman, a registered nurse, UFT Vice President, and Special Representative for the Federation of Nurses/UFT. "The department’s lack of action makes a mockery of 2024 Nurse Appreciation Week." 

Read the letter to State Health Commissioner James McDonald outlining the concerns of the UFT and Federation of Nurses/UFT.