Roughly 15,000 New York City nurses ended a 41-day strike on Feb. 21, 2026, after ratifying new three-year contracts with Mount Sinai, Montefiore Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian — closing out what the New York State Nurses Association called the longest private-sector nurses’ strike in modern city history.

The walkout began Jan. 12, 2026, when nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian set up picket lines after talks broke down over staffing, benefits and pay. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian were the last to settle, reaching a tentative agreement in mid-February before the union-wide ratification vote brought everyone back to the bedside.

What the nurses won

The settlements run three years and deliver salary increases of more than 12% over the life of the contracts, according to NYSNA. The bigger fight, the union said, was over working conditions rather than wages.

The contracts include enforceable nurse-to-patient staffing standards — ratios the union can hold hospitals to rather than aspirational targets — along with maintenance of existing health benefits, which several systems had sought to weaken. Nurses also won expanded workplace-violence protections and new contract language covering protections for immigrant patients and nurses, safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence in care, and stronger healthcare enforcement provisions.

At NewYork-Presbyterian, the tentative deal was ratified with 93% approval, the union said.

A bigger footprint than the four marquee systems

While the strike’s public face was the four large academic systems, NYSNA said the broader bargaining round ultimately secured contracts for more than 20,000 nurses across roughly a dozen private hospitals. Those included BronxCare Health System, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center — a roster spanning all five boroughs and several of the city’s financially fragile safety-net institutions.

”Now the fight to enforce these contracts begins”

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, framed the outcome as a starting line rather than a finish, saying it was a proud moment for the union but that the work of enforcing the new staffing language was just beginning. Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, noted that the nurses had taken on some of the largest and wealthiest private employers in the city.

The 2026 strike echoed — and outlasted — the three-day January 2023 walkout at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, which ended with the systems’ first enforceable safe-staffing commitments. Three years on, nurses argued those commitments had not been consistently honored, and they pressed for contract terms the union itself could police.

Why it matters beyond the picket line

The strike landed at a precarious moment for New York’s hospital sector. State budget documents have flagged that 75 of 261 hospitals statewide — about 29% — are financially distressed, and the city’s safety-net systems are bracing for federal Medicaid reductions. Higher labor costs negotiated in the 2026 contracts will fall on systems already warning Albany and Washington about thinning margins, even as the nurses argue that adequate staffing is itself a patient-safety and retention issue that saves money over time.

For patients, the immediate effect was disruption: during the walkout, the struck hospitals leaned on contingency staffing and diverted some non-emergency cases. With ratification complete, all of the affected nurses returned to work, and the contracts now set the staffing and benefit floor across a large share of the city’s private hospital workforce through 2029.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

How long did the 2026 NYC nurses' strike last?
Forty-one days. NYSNA nurses walked out on Jan. 12, 2026, and returned after ratifying new three-year contracts on Feb. 21, 2026, making it the longest private-sector nurses' strike in modern New York City history.
Which hospitals were affected?
The core walkout hit Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian. NYSNA says contracts ultimately covered more than 20,000 nurses across roughly a dozen private hospitals, including BronxCare, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Maimonides and Wyckoff Heights.
What did the nurses win?
Salary increases of more than 12% over three years, enforceable nurse-to-patient staffing standards, maintenance of health benefits, and stronger workplace-violence protections, along with new language on immigrant patients and AI safeguards.
Who leads NYSNA?
Nancy Hagans, RN, is president of the New York State Nurses Association; Pat Kane, RN, is the union's executive director.