Striking nurses at two of New York’s major privately run hospitals announced a tentative agreement Monday to end the longest work stoppage at medical facilities in the city’s history.

The strike started on January 12, reaching 25 days that included enduring bone-chilling cold and a snowstorm.

The nurses’ union said the new, three-year labor contract with Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan and Montefiore Hospital in The Bronx will provide a combined 12% pay raise over the agreement’s course, averaging 4% annually.

The proposed contract also maintains nurses’ health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs, the New York State Nurses’ Association said in a statement.

In addition, the proposed pact includes new protections against workplace violence, including specific protections for transgender and immigrant nurses and patients, as well as provisions addressing artificial intelligence in hospitals, the union said.

It also provides for “safe staffing” levels, NYSNA said.

But the union’s strike against the New York Presbyterian hospital system continues as the two parties work to settle their differences with a mediator.    

The key sticking point in negotiations is staffing levels, the union said.  

“For four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care,” Nancy Hagans, president of NYSNA said.

“Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high.”

Nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Morningside and West hospitals will vote to ratify their contracts beginning Monday through Wednesday.

If approved, striking nurses will return to work on Saturday.

A rep for Montefiori confirmed the agreement, but declined further comment pending the nurses’ vote on the tentative contract.

Mt. Sinai Health System CEO Brendan Carr said, “After a long and difficult negotiation, this morning we agreed to terms with the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA). We have a tentative agreement in place on all three campuses, and I hope our nurses will be coming back to work in the very near future.

“This process has been difficult for all of us. While it has been amazing to once again see Mount Sinai do extraordinary things in order to serve our patients and community, it will take time to rebuild the momentum that we had in the alignment of our organization. I commit to you that we will heal the organization together in the service of continuing to help people to live longer and better lives.”  

Ken Raske, CEO of the Greater New York Hospital Association, applauded the settlement as “in the best interest of all New Yorkers.”

The hospitals spent $100 million to hire replacement nurses to keep their doors open during the strike, which saw ugly accusations getting lobbed by both sides.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an emergency order making it easier for hospital executives to hire nurses from out of state.

Nurses staged a three-day strike in 2023 against the Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems, catching the hospital officials off guard. They said they prepared for months in anticipation of a strike this time around.

The striking nurses had the support of the political establishment, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appearing on the picket line.

Unionized nurses’ salaries currently average $162,000 to $165,000 a year, not including benefits.

The union complained that hospital CEOs who oversee the not-for-profit hospitals are pulling in outrageous multi-million dollar salaries.