Hospital at Center of Massive NYC Nurses Strike Levels Ugly Accusation at Healthcare Workers – RedState
Three New York area hospitals are in a precarious situation as thousands of nurses went on strike Monday. As with most strikes, issues of competitive pay and recruiting are on the table. But there is an ugly twist in the back and forth at one of the three hospitals involved. Officials at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx went further and accused the nurses’ union of trying to protect its members who come to work drunk or high. The indictment goes on to accuse the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) of striking, in part, because union leaders oppose harsher disciplinary action against employees who come to work impaired.
Nearly 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York because management refused to accept safe staffing levels for patients, the union said.
This could turn into a long work battle coinciding with a serious flu season. https://t.co/3RA8SP8va7 pic.twitter.com/3N0ubTKb1Y
– The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 12, 2026
In a statement, Montefiore Medical Center said:
“NYSNA leadership’s demand that a nurse not be fired if found to be impaired by drugs or alcohol on the job is another example of how their own self-interest comes before patient safety.”
READ MORE: British nurses object to man being in their changing room – and now under investigation for misconduct
Nurses at Montefiore Medical Center, as well as Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, as well as New York Presbyterian Hospital, are affected, with up to 15,000 nurses participating in the strike. Mayor Zohran Mamdani also stood alongside striking nurses on the picket lines in a show of solidarity.
In what also appeared to be a show of solidarity with the striking nurses, but which might not have helped in light of the allegations, an Instagram post from a Brooklyn bar called Block Hill Station offered affordable beers to striking nurses fighting “for patient safety and fair benefits for staff.” The message depicted a pair of praying hands and read: “I love this! Free beer! All nurses on strike: buy one, get one on some beers.”
The union has not responded to allegations that impaired nurses are being allowed to work. However, they have leveled their own age-old allegations against the hospital management. NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement:
“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits ahead of the safety of patient care and force nurses to strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients. It is deeply offensive that they would rather use their billions to fight their own nurses than reach a fair contract. Nurses don’t want to strike, but our bosses forced us to strike.”
This is just the beginning for New York City. This couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.
Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York hospitals – Breitbart https://t.co/Wg5dljcXud-Ken Kmak @ken_kmak8542 (@ken_kmak8542) January 12, 2026
The New York Presbyterian responded by saying:
“While NYSNA has told nurses to step away from the bedside, we remain focused on our patients and their care. This strike is designed to create disruption, but we have taken the necessary steps to ensure our patients continue to receive the care they trust us to provide. We have proposed significant pay increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the city, enhancements to their exceptional employer-funded benefits, and new measures that reflect our shared commitment to a strong workforce safe and secure at work. However, good faith negotiations require compromise on both sides.
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All three hospitals have contingency plans to hire contract nurses throughout the strike, which comes at the height of a severe flu season. But it’s not just traditional questions like benefits and staffing that come up. Workplace safety has become a more pressing issue in recent years. For example, a man armed with a sharp object recently barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room, and nurses were physically attacked by patients. A New York Presbyterian nurse said there aren’t enough nurses to care for the number of patients flooding into the hospital’s emergency department.
The latest nurses’ strike in New York lasted three days but resulted in a 19 percent pay increase over three years at those hospitals.
Thousands of nurses across New York City are on strike Monday morning in what officials are calling the largest nurses’ strike in the city’s history. Here’s the last one. https://t.co/cURgo6l2DO pic.twitter.com/TDTfIaJznh
– FOX 5 NY (@fox5ny) January 12, 2026
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