Resident nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center took turns marching and protesting July 6-8 with the hopes of securing a better contract from the hospital.
“We just want a fair wage,” said Susan Parisi, who has been working at the hospital for 30 years. “We have had very poor pay raises over the past eight years.”
The union is negotiating more money for retiree healthcare, a 2 percent pay raise and additional pay for nurses who have been working at the hospital for 25 years or longer, said Tom Jennings, a union representative with the New York State Nurses Association. About 430 nurses at Flushing Hospital belong to the union.
The availability of alternate work schedules, which allow nurses to take on longer shifts while working fewer days, is another request being handled in negotiations. The nurses’ old contract expired on June 30.
“It always comes down to the money,” said Jennings.
The original request for a 3 percent pay raise has already gone down to 2 percent, even though Jennings said the pay at Flushing Hospital is $3,000 to $6,000 less than it is at other hospitals. Jennings also said that out of all the hospitals represented by the union in Brooklyn and Queens, Flushing Hospital nurses are paid the least.
MediSys public affairs coordinator Natifia Gaines said on Wednesday, July 8 that negotiations were ongoing and “we are in the process of negotiations in hopes of resolving the issues and hope that we can come to some sort of contract agreement today.”
Recently closed hospitals in Queens have resulted in an influx of patients at other hospitals and a high patient to nurse ratio. With a better contract, Cindy Zukowski, another nurse who has worked at Flushing Hospital for 30 years, said it should help with the problem of retention and recruitment.
“It’s easy to go work at New York Hospital Queens, which is only a mile away because they pay more,” she said.
