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Just before the start of New York City’s largest-ever nurses strike, Mount Sinai terminated three nurses via voicemail for “interfering with patient safety." In the days after the firings were made public the nurses and their union, the New York State Nurses Association, called that a false accusation and criticized the firings as “unlawful.”
Nearly 15,000 NYSNA members went on strike at Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian, three major private New York City hospital systems, on Jan. 12 to demand staffing standards for nurses, workplace violence protections and healthcare benefits for nurses.
Ahead of the strike, Mount Sinai management claims, three union nurses in the labor and delivery unit deliberately sabotaged the hospital’s emergency preparedness drills, including hiding supplies from agency nurses in training who were meant to work during the strike.
The hospital said the nurses carried out “completely unacceptable behavior” and added that the union nurses locked “critical supplies” designed to care for newborns in conference rooms “where they did not belong.”
The hospital said the nurses “lied about their involvement,” but that reviewing security footage of the incident “easily refuted” the nurses’ claims. Hospital leadership said it will report the trio to the Office of Professional Discipline.
'Act of intimidation'
However, two of the fired nurses, Berina Selimovic and Liliana Prestia, told a different story at a NYSNA press conference outside Mount Sinai on Jan. 13. There, they called hospital leadership's claims false accusations and a “pure act of intimidation.”
Prestia, who has worked at the hospital for three years, along with Selimovic, said the firings were the hospital’s attempt to stop them from joining the strike. Prestia also said she and Selimovic are both new moms who returned to work from maternity leave six months ago.
“We will not be bullied by Mount Sinai and we’ll do everything we can to contest our unjust firings,” Prestia said.
They added that even though the hospital coerced them into training temporary travel nurses intended to replace them during the union’s strike, patients are their top priority and they would never compromise patient safety.
Prestia said that Mount Sinai must be held accountable and that it can’t keep disciplining and punishing nurses who “speak out about patient safety and nurse safety.”
Mount Sinai also disciplined nurses in early December after they spoke out about concerns following an attempted shooting. NYSNA said the labor and delivery unit has experienced “aggressive union-busting activity” and that management disciplined nurses in late 2025 for going to a union meeting.
“Instead of getting serious at the bargaining table and setting a fair contract that protects patients and nurses, Mount Sinai management continued to attack the very nurses who are fighting for their patients,” the union said in a news release.
A war of words
During the strike, NYSNA and the hospital systems have waged a war of words, with news releases telling competing narratives about the strike.
Mount Sinai said in a statement on Jan. 13 that NYSNA has yet to “provide an offer that could be considered reasonable.” Dr. Brendan Carr, the hospital system’s CEO, said in a Jan. 14 strike update that NYSNA is “bullying and intimidating” nurses who have continued to work during the strike.
Mount Sinai said around 20 percent of NYSNA nurses came into work on the strike’s first day.
NewYork-Presbyterian said in a Jan. 15 statement that it remains “committed to reaching an agreement as soon as NYSNA is willing to meaningfully bargain” on issues including safe staffing, workplace safety and benefits.
NYSNA also recently criticized Montefiore for slandering nurses by “blatantly mischaracterizing a basic workplace proposal.” Montefiore did not respond to a request for comment from The Chief about the strike and NYSNA’s slander claims.
The union demanded in a news release on Jan. 15 that hospital executives “reverse the unlawful disciplines and terminations and come back to the bargaining table to make real progress.”
NYSNA added that nurses and hospital executives will head back to the table with the help of a mediator in scheduled sessions on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16. Nancy Hagans, the union’s president, said in a statement on Jan. 15 that instead of “investing millions in fighting their own nurses, hospital executives need to do the right thing and work with us to improve safety.”
“Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian need to get serious about meeting our demands for safety,” Hagans said.
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