Yesterday nearly 15,000 nurses launched a strike at three private sector hospital systems in New York City. Nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) have walked out at multiple campuses of Montefiore Einstein Medical Center, Mount Sinai Health System, and New York–Presbyterian Hospital in the largest nurses’ strike in the city’s history and one of the largest in the history of the United States.

Nurses say that the hospitals are stonewalling them on key proposals. Those include demands around safe-staffing ratios; nurses say understaffing is a major issue that leads to burnout of staff and worse patient care. Nurses are also attempting to establish better protections against workplace violence for hospital staff and to resist cuts to their health care benefits, among other demands.

Earlier today, Jacobin contributor Sara Wexler joined nurses on the picket lines at Mount Sinai’s Morningside campus. She spoke to nurses there about their key contract proposals, why bargaining has broken down, and fighting back against their employer’s union-busting efforts.