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The largest nurses’ strike in New York City history has reached its 10th day, as negotiations stall. Nearly 15,000 New York City nurses are fighting for a contract that includes higher pay, a staffing increase to manage patients, improved benefits and workplace protections against violence. Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined the picket line at Mount Sinai West Tuesday with the New York State Nurses Association. “This is a fight for our patients,” says Michelle Gonzalez, a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, who notes one of the nurses’ priorities in contract negotiations “is to have ICE officers not be allowed into our facilities.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We end today’s show back here in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined striking nurses in freezing temperatures Tuesday as the action entered a second week. Nearly 15,000 nurses are engaged in the largest nursing strike in New York history, demanding higher wages, fully funded benefits, an increase in staff to manage patients and better workplace protections for hospital workers who face violence on the job. Nurses have accused six private New York hospitals, including Mount Sinai, of refusing to negotiate a fair contract.

This is Senator Sanders speaking from the picket line.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: The people of this country are sick and tired of the greed in the healthcare industry. They’re tired of the drug companies ripping us off, the insurance companies ripping us off and hospital executives getting huge salaries. Don’t tell me you can’t provide a good nurse-staff ratio when you’re paying your CEO at NewYork-Presbyterian $26 million a year, the CEO of Montefiore $16 million a year, Mount Sinai $5 million a year. Don’t tell me you can’t treat nurses with dignity when you’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on traveling nurses. So, the people of New York City, the people of Vermont, the people of America love and appreciate our nurses. And today we say to those hospitals: Sit down and negotiate a decent contract. Thank you very much.

AMY GOODMAN: Joining Senator Sanders in the subfreezing weather there on the picket line was fellow democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI: So, as Bernie said, it’s not about the money. If it was, we would be talking about compensation packages. We’d be talking about the amount of money spent on travel nurses. What this is in fact about is recognizing the worth of each and every nurse in this city.

And so, I am here to say the same thing that I said on the first day of this strike, which is that we are encouraging everyone to return to that bargaining table. Too often when we see a strike, people forget that that is not where workers want to be. A strike is an act of last resort. What workers want is to be back at work. So, what this will mean is making that possible. And so we call on every side to come back to that negotiating table, have a swift and urgent resolution, and to know that no matter what day it is, we will be here, we will be standing with you, and we will be saying the exact same thing. Thank you so........

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