Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope took to the picket lines outside hospital doors Thursday to demand fair contracts they say would benefit their patients.

“I’ve seen many, many negotiations. This is the worse,” said Allyson Selby, a nurse with NYP Methodist, speaking to those at the rally.

Nurses gathered said they had about 14 negotiation meetings with the hospital for over a month. Their current contract ended on April 30.

What You Need To Know

  • Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope took to the picket lines just outside hospital doors Thursday to demand fair contracts they say would benefit patients

  • The nurses union, the New York State Nurses Association, said hospital management has doubled down on staffing cuts to several units and is also accusing the hospital of trying to roll back patient safety protections

  • In a statement, the hospital said, "We remain hopeful that we can achieve a fair agreement that rewards our nurses for the important role they play in our hospital’s delivery of exceptional care"

  • The next time both sides will be meeting will be on Tuesday, May 9

The nurses union, the New York State Nurses Association, said hospital management has doubled down on staffing cuts to several units, including labor and delivery as well as chemotherapy infusion.

The union is also accusing the hospital of trying to roll back patient safety protections.

“They submitted a proposal which would take more nurses in addition to the nurses that we already don’t have to be able to provide safe care,” Sharonda Green-Carter told NY1 via Zoom.

Green-Carter is a critical care nurse at the hospital.

She protested alongside fellow nurses and said after being with the hospital for 13 years, this is probably the worst it’s been.

“On top of decreasing the amount of nurses, they would also like to have nurses who are untrained in certain areas be made to work in areas they’ve never worked have no experience,” said Green-Carter.  

She and other nurses say they feel disrespected by hospital management as many of them worked through the height of the pandemic.

“We’ve worked in situations that were deplorable and we at least thought that since things were coming around a little bit that we would be able to get a little bit of respect,” said Green-Carter.

In a statement, the hospital said: “We remain hopeful that we can achieve a fair agreement that rewards our nurses for the important role they play in our hospital’s delivery of exceptional care.”

When asked why she believes the hospital is not listening to nurses’ concerns during negotiations, Green-Carter said it all boils down to money.  

“It’s profits over patients because if I’m talking to you about the importance of someone’s life and your next sentence is, well, we can’t do it because of how much it will cost…. that’s profits over patients,” said Green-Carter.  

The next time both sides will be meeting will be on Tuesday, May 9.