For Immediate Release

January 12, 2026

What follows is a statement from UUP President Kowal regarding the New York State Nurses Association’s (NYSNA) strike in New York City, which started today:

“Nurses are amazing, dedicated people who give their all on the job every day. They care for and comfort patients, they calm family members and do all they can to make a distressing situation like a hospital stay as unnerving as possible.

“Yet, these crucial caregivers are expected to work long days, deal with unsafe patient loads and treat patients in buildings that lack simple safety precautions like metal detectors and other means to keep guns out of hospitals. Add to that the indignity of being underpaid while New York City hospital executives routinely pull down multimillion-dollar salaries.

“UUP strongly supports our nearly 15,000 NYSNA siblings who went on strike today and are walking picket lines at some of New York City’s biggest hospitals. UUP stands with them and we will do all we can to amplify their call for minimum staff ratios, beefed-up security and higher wages.

“Our nurses are due a fair and equitable agreement, not excuses from multimillionaires who use their finances to put down rather than lift up their employees. Nurses deserve far better than that.”