Three New York City area hospitals are in a precarious position as thousands of nurses went on strike on Monday. Like most labor strikes, issues of competitive pay and staffing are on the table. But there is an ugly twist on the back and forth at one of the three hospitals involved. Officials at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx have taken things one step further and accused the nurses’ union of attempting to protect its members who come to work drunk or stoned. The accusation goes on to accuse the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) of striking, in part, because union leadership opposes tougher disciplinary action against employees who come to work impaired.
Nearly 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York because management refused to agree to safe staffing levels for patients, the union said.
It could evolve into a protracted labor battle coinciding with a severe flu season. https://t.co/3RA8SP8va7 pic.twitter.com/3N0ubTKb1Y
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 12, 2026
In a statement, Montefiore Medical Center stated:
“NYSNA leadership’s demand that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job is another example of putting their own self-interest before patient safety.”
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Nurses at Montefiore Medical Center, as well as The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, and New York Presbyterian Hospital are affected, with as many as 15,000 nurses participating in the strike. Mayor Zohran Mamdani also stood with 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 might not have helped in light of the allegations, was an Instagram post from a bar in Brooklyn called Block Hill Station that offered buy-one-get-one-free beers to striking nurses fighting “for patient safety and fair staff benefits.” The post pictured a set of praying hands and read, “Love this! Free beer! All Striking Nurses: Buy One Get One On Select Beers.”
The union did not respond to the allegations of impaired nurses being allowed on the job. However, they have leveled some age-old allegations of their own at hospital management. NYSNA president Nancy Hagans said in a statement:
“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on 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 against their own nurses than settle a fair contract. Nurses do not want to strike, but our bosses have forced us out on strike.”
This is only what is only the beginning for New York City. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.
Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals – Breitbart https://t.co/Wg5dljcXud— Ken Kmak @ken_kmak8542 (@ken_kmak8542) January 12, 2026
New York Presbyterian responded, saying,
“While NYSNA has told nurses to walk 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 so our patients continue to receive the care they trust us to provide. We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the city, enhancements to their outstanding employer-funded benefits and new measures that reflect our shared commitment to safe staffing and workplace safety. However, good faith bargaining requires compromise from 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 traditional issues like benefits and staffing are not the only issues. Workplace safety has become a more pressing issue in recent years. A man with a sharp object recently barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room, for instance, and there have been issues with nurses being physically assaulted by patients. One New York Presbyterian nurse said there are not enough nurses to take care of the number of patients pouring into the hospital’s emergency department.
The last 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 this Monday morning in what officials are calling the largest nurses’ strike in city history. Here’s the latest. https://t.co/cURgo6l2DO pic.twitter.com/TDTfIaJznh
— FOX 5 NY (@fox5ny) January 12, 2026
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