Nearly 1,000 doctors who planned to go on strike at four public hospitals next Monday have agreed to delay their walkout in hopes of reaching a pay deal with their employer.
Physicians represented by Doctors Council SEIU had been planning to strike on Jan. 13 if they did not reach a deal that includes higher pay and better benefits. The strike at Jacobi Medical Center, North Central Bronx Hospital, Queens Hospital and South Brooklyn Health would mark the largest walkout of attending physicians in city history, according to the union.
But immediate threats of a walkout were diffused, at least until Jan. 21, according to Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for City Hall. The union, H+H and its staffing affiliates, which include Mount Sinai and Physician Associate Group of New York, or PAGNY, agreed to postpone a strike amid continued negotiations assisted by a third-party mediator, Garcia said.
The union did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The strike delay comes a few days after Mayor Eric Adams asked the union, Mount Sinai and PAGNY to commit to negotiations for another 60 days to avoid the strike. Adams asked the doctors to continue working during the “critical winter months,” when hospitals see higher rates of illnesses related to freezing temperatures and an uptick in respiratory illnesses. The mayor has not yet committed additional funding to the public hospital system to assist with pay negotiations.
