Mount Sinai South Nassau Nurses To Vote For Unionizing

OCEANSIDE, NY — Nurses from Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside are expected to hold a vote on forming a union.

A notice of election was posted on Dec. 19 by the National Labor Relations Board, Patch found.

The 800 nurses from the Oceanside hospital would join the New York State Nurses Association, which held a news conference on Thursday to discuss ongoing strike talks among their citywide 17,000 nursing staffers, including those at Mount Sinai.

Nurses say hospitals aren’t doing enough to keep caregivers at the bedside, and instead of working with nurses, who worked through the worst of COVID-19, in some cases, are even threatening to cut their healthcare benefits, the union said.

The hospital told Patch in a statement: "Mount Sinai South Nassau leaders respect the rights of employees to make choices that are best for them. We’ll make every effort to protect the rights of all nurses at the hospital, regardless of whether they choose to join a union or not."

The hospital added:"Our preference is to continue our decades-long mutually respectful and direct relationship with nurses at Mount Sinai South Nassau. However, it’s up to nurses to decide. We know they will approach making this decision with the same high level of care and consideration they use every day in support of the community we serve together."

Mount Sinai South Nassau is a 455-bed hospital in Oceanside. It's been recognized as a "Magnet" hospital for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.