Negotiations inch along under shadow of NYC nurses' strike

NEW YORK -- The union representing a group of nurses at a New York City hospital reached a tentative contract agreement with its management, but close to 9,000 nurses at several other major hospitals were still preparing to go on strike.

The New York State Nurses Association and BronxCare Health System said Saturday that a tentative agreement had been reached; the union said it included pay raises every year of its three-year term as well as staffing increases.

Another hospital, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, got to a tentative agreement with nurses on Friday evening.

But agreements to avoid a walkout starting Monday morning had yet to be reached at other private hospitals including Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, which both have more than than 1,000 beds.

The hospitals have taken steps to prepare for a strike through patient transfers and directing ambulances elsewhere.