1199SEIU Caregivers & NYSNA RNs Reach Tentative Agreement with City of New York & the Health and Hospitals Corporation for New Union Contracts

June 26, 2014

More than 8,000 Registered Nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association and 2,500 caregivers represented by 1199SEIU have reached Tentative Agreements with the City of New York and with the Health and Hospitals Corporation for new union contracts. About 200 caregivers at DOH, DOC and DEP are also covered under the 1199 agreement, and about 80 nurses who work for various Mayoral agencies are covered under the NYSNA agreement.



Every day New Yorkers know that they can receive the care they need at our public hospitals and agencies—because of the nurses and caregivers who dedicate their lives to carrying out the mission of HHC to care for all patients, regardless of income, or of immigration or insurance status.



Now, hardworking city nurses and caregivers have reached tentative agreements for fair union contracts. The agreement includes child and elder care funds and training and upgrading funds for nurses and caregivers.



The child and elder care funds reflect the reality of the 24-hour-a-day, female-dominated healthcare workforce, in which healthcare workers are often the primary caregivers at home for children and elderly family members. Now, all city nurses and caregivers will have more options for affordable care for loved ones through the new child and elder care funds included in the settlements.



The new training and upgrading funds will allow nurses and caregivers to keep their skills up to date and receive training and education that will help advance their careers and improve care.



Both tentative agreements also include retroactive payments and across-the-board wage increases, and no givebacks from nurses or caregivers.



NYSNA nurses and 1199SEIU caregivers at HHC have worked for more than four years without a contract and began negotiations under the Bloomberg administration more than five years ago. Nurses and caregivers applaud Mayor de Blasio’s administration for transforming the way the city negotiates with public workers, so there is a productive dialogue which will help address the destructive inequality gap that has been growing for too long.



“This new agreement reflects what we can achieve when we work together with a progressive mayor to make positive changes in the lives of city nurses and our patients,” said NYSNA’s HHC Executive Council President Anne Bové, RN. “For too long, city nurses struggled for a fair contract. Finally, we can put that struggle behind us. We are committed to working together to ensure that New York City’s public hospitals continue to be the best places to work and to receive care.”



”I love helping New Yorkers, and this contract will allow us to serve our city the best we can,” said Kim Cameron, an 1199SEIU member and a Licensed Practical Nurse who has worked at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx for 26 years. “I’ve worked my way up the healthcare career ladder, so I know how important having a training fund is so caregivers can advance our skills. Also, my dad is in his 70s now and undergoing cancer treatment, so the eldercare fund will be so important. These funds will help attract qualified staff, and make sure we can provide quality care to our patients and decent lives for our families.”



“Today marks another step toward restoring a productive, respectful relationship between the City and its workforce, while securing much-needed certainty that protects our long-term fiscal health,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “These tentative agreements with 1199SEIU and NYSNA are consistent with the pattern we established earlier this year, including the unprecedented and guaranteed health care savings. Working with our healthcare employees and nurses, we secured additional improvements - including an historic agreement to create a childcare and eldercare fund, innovative employee training, and a new collaborative approach to healthcare delivery that will make a big difference for patients and service providers alike.”



Media Coverage



City Reaches Tentative Deals With Health Care Workers’, Nurses’ Unions, CBS 2 New York

De Blasio strikes deal with 1199, NYSNA, Capital New York

NYC strikes deal with two labor unions, PIX 11

Bill de Blasio Strikes Tentative Labor Deal With Nurses and 1199 Members, The Observer

Healthcare unions have contracts settled as City Council votes on Mayor de Blasio’s $75B budget, NY Daily News

De Blasio Announces Labor Agreement with City Nurses, Healthcare Workers, DNA info New York