Against the background of Covid-19 cases increasing dramatically and new concerns being expressed about continued impacts in Westchester and throughout New York state as well as the rest of the U.S., members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) allege that Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital is locking out some of its members.
The lockout charge follows a two-day strike against the New Rochelle hospital and a separate one-day strike against the Albany Medical Center. The union has alleged that both institutions engaged in unfair labor practices.
The New Rochelle strike took place Dec. 1 and 2 and the walkout in Albany was on Dec. 1. Union nurses have been working without a contract in Albany for two years and the union had been negotiating for a new contract with Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital before the strike was called.
NYNSA said that the hospital told about 30 to 40 of its staff of 200 union nurses not to report for work Dec. 3, which the union viewed as a selective lockout. The union said that the same thing happened regarding work shifts on Dec. 4, although it did not immediately have the total number of its members who it said were told to stay away.
Montefiore did not immediately respond to a request from the Business Journal on Dec. 4 for comment on the union’s lockout reports and a status report on the New Rochelle hospital.
The union has alleged that neither hospital has adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to shield nurses from possible exposure to the coronavirus. It expressed concerns about nurses being overworked and patient care suffering at both hospitals.
Kathy Santoiemma, a registered nurse and union leader at the New Rochelle hospital, said, “After so many bargaining sessions, their position on safe staffing still has not changed. They”™re not willing to spend a dime to ensure we have enough nurses to safely care for our community.”
In a statement, the union charged that “it is clear to nurses that the hospital is not yet prepared for another surge of patients.”
The hospital said in a statement that it “will remain open but will enact contingency plans, including relocating patients to other facilities to ensure their safety.”
The hospital said that during negotiations it has offered the union wage increases of more than 7%, medical expenses for retired nurses, health insurance with no employee contributions, contributions to the union”™s pension fund and tuition reimbursement of $7,500 a year.
“NYSNA is willfully misleading the public by suggesting that Montefiore New Rochelle is unprepared for the latest Covid-19 surge,” the hospital said in a statement.
It said that it has stockpiled a 90-day supply of PPE for employees. The hospital charged that the union is putting the community at risk and is using the virus as a “political football.”
The events in New Rochelle and Albany are not isolated incidents. Nurses have recently staged actions in Los Angeles; Aurora, Colorado; Langhorne, Pennsylvania; Kansas City and Chicago among other places. These have ranged from rallies calling attention to PPE shortages and safety conditions to a lack of contract renewals.
The New Rochelle and Albany strikes came on the same day that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was warning that the upward trend in Covid cases in New York is expected to continue.
“My projection is that the numbers will continue to go up
through the holiday season,” Cuomo said during a Dec. 1 conference call.
“We focused on Thanksgiving as a day or as a weekend. Thanksgiving was not a day or a weekend. It was the commencement of the holiday season and the holiday season is a season of increased social activity and increased social activity increases the viral transmission.”
As of Nov. 30, there had been 26,816 deaths from the virus in New York state. Cuomo reported that 66 state residents died from the illness on Nov. 30, while the number of people in hospitals rose by 242 to reach 3,774.
Statistics from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine”™s Coronavirus Resource Center showed that as of Nov. 30 there were 63,556,040 cases of Covid-19 globally leading to 1,474,643 deaths. In the U.S., there were 13,605,981 cases with 269,192 deaths.
In Westchester, County Executive George Latimer reported that as of Nov. 30 there were 6,117 active cases.
“One week ago we had 4,808 active cases. That”™s an increase of 1,300 active cases in the last week,” Latimer said. “If we go back two weeks, the number of active cases was 3,515. The day before Halloween, October 30th, we had 1,393 cases.”
He said that as of Nov. 28 there were 244 people hospitalized for Covid-19 in Westchester.
“A week ago we had 168 people hospitalized. The week before that we had a total of 121,” Latimer said, “If you go back a month ago, October 30, we had 48 people in the hospital. Unfortunately, the death toll follows that degree of hospitalization. We have lost a total of 1,515 individuals to Covid.”
Latimer said that the last time the county had a number of active cases reaching the current level was on May 3.
“This is not a rosy picture. As I often say, I”™m not here to sugarcoat reality nor am I here to fear monger,” Latimer said. “This does show a significant increase and it has been a steady increase.”
