Hours after the state nurses' union contract expired, nurses are demanding pay increases to retain staff at New York City’s public hospitals.

Nearly 9,000 nurses who work at public hospitals are demanding a fair contract since nurses from private sector hospitals were able to successfully secure more pay in their new contract.

Hours before the contract’s expiration at midnight, nurses rallied outside the NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Hospital demanding equal pay with private hospitals.

The contracts for private sector nurses included 19.9% pay increases, which according to the New York State Nurses Association is almost $19,000 more than nurses working at public hospitals.

The union says this is a matter of racial and health equality as New York City Public Health Facilities service and include a staff of mostly Black and brown immigrant New Yorkers.

New York City Health and Hospitals says they are looking forward to negotiating a new contract with nurses and that negotiations will not disrupt patient care.