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"What do we want?"
"Contracts!"
"If we don't get it?"
"We shut it down!"
The call-and-response echoed across Foley Square June 17 as thousands of healthcare workers rallied near City Hall, urging the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York to reach a new contract covering roughly 86,000 Service Employees International Union Local 1199 members employed at hospitals and nursing homes across New York.
The workers — including registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, certified nursing assistants, social workers, housekeepers, technicians, dietary staff and other frontline caregivers — filled the plaza in a sea of purple shirts and signs reading, "Care Lives Here, But We Can't Afford To," as negotiations continue ahead of the current contract's Sept. 30 expiration.
"There is no healthcare without workers," Local 1199 president Yvonne Armstrong told the crowd. "We will not be taken for granted or disrespected. Every healthcare worker should be able to afford to live in the communities we serve."
Armstrong said healthcare workers kept New York's hospitals and nursing homes operating through the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to provide essential care every day, arguing that employers must invest in the workforce that makes patient care possible.
"We are united, we are organized and we are ready to fight to win healthcare justice," she said.
The contract covers approximately 86,000 workers at 90 hospitals and nursing homes across New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, including facilities operated by Montefiore, Mount Sinai, Northwell Health, NewYork-Presbyterian and NYU Langone.
According to the union, negotiations began May 28 and management has rejected the bargaining committee's economic proposals. Union leaders say their "floor" for wage increases is five percent annually, while also seeking to preserve employer-paid health insurance and pensions, strengthen safe staffing enforcement, establish job security protections related to artificial intelligence and expand workplace violence safeguards.
The League's latest proposal includes wage increases of 2.5 percent in each of the first two years of the agreement, followed by 1.25 percent increases in each of the final two years, while maintaining existing health and retirement benefits at no cost to employees.
"Our institutions have made clear we want a fair and reasonable contract that reflects the contributions of our incredible workforce and preserves quality, affordable healthcare for all New Yorkers," the League said in a statement. The organization added that its proposal includes $2.1 billion in new spending on wages and benefits and said it remains committed to reaching an agreement before the current contract expires.
Among those addressing the large crowd of workers was Jack Chapman, a Staten Island paramedic, who said emergency medical workers routinely respond to life-threatening situations while struggling to incentivize workers to stay in the profession after years of taxing labor and low pay.
"We're often there on the worst days of people's lives," Chapman said. "We're not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fair treatment."
Chapman said there is a widespread issue in retaining experienced EMTs and paramedics, making it more difficult to provide the highest level of emergency care when New Yorkers dial 911.
Several elected officials joined the demonstration, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Attorney General Letitia James, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and City Council Speaker Julie Menin.
"New York City is a union town, and we will always stand union strong," Mamdani told the crowd. "If you don't stand with the workers, then you're picking a side."
The mayor said that City Hall supports the workers in achieving a fair contract, which he said should allow healthcare workers to afford to live in the communities they serve while protecting their healthcare benefits, workplace safety and job security.
DiNapoli thanked healthcare workers for their service during the pandemic and said they deserve a contract that reflects the value of their work.
"You deserve to be honored and respected," he said. "It really gets back to one word: dignity."
Jean Roper, who has worked for nearly 30 years at Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Queens, said nursing home employees prioritize residents' needs ahead of their own, which is what makes them such good workers, but yet has led to difficulty in keeping up with inflation and paying for basic necessities.
"There is no dollar amount that can truly reflect the value of the work we do every day," Roper said. "We're not looking to get rich. We just want to be able to pay our bills and put food on the table for our families."
As the rally concluded, workers broke into chants once again with harmony and zeal.
"When we fight," speakers shouted from the stage, "we win," thousands of healthcare workers roared back.
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