THE NURSES AIN'T BACKING DOWN
You want to know what real resistance looks like?
Thirty-one days. That's how long the nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian have been on strike. And today they voted to REJECT the hospital's contract offer by an overwhelming margin. They're not going back until they get what they deserve.
Meanwhile, 19 people have frozen to death on our streets in this cold snap. Nineteen! Found under bridges, in doorways, on sidewalks. This is New York City in 2026.
You see the connection? The nurses are fighting for staffing ratios, for safe patient care, for a system that actually works. And the same system that won't pay nurses fairly is the same one that lets people die in the cold because there's no room for them, no help for them, no CARE for them.
I've been on the streets of this city for 60 years. I've seen the rich get richer and the poor get pushed out. I've seen hospitals close, I've seen shelters overflow, I've seen good people freeze because nobody gave a damn.
But I've also seen what happens when workers stand together. When they say NO. When they hold the line.
31 days. That takes guts. That takes solidarity. That's the spirit that built every good thing we've ever had in this country.
To the nurses on the picket line: I salute you. Keep fighting. The whole city is watching.
And to everyone else: next time you walk past a hospital, honk your horn, raise your fist, let them know you're with them. Because their fight is our fight.
Power to the people who do the work.
See also: Rent Is the New Cops — when the system prices you out. Up Against the Wall Street — Occupy, Zuccotti Park, 2011. The Veteran — what sacrifice really means. ICE in Our Drinks — the resistance in New Orleans. The Rock Street Journal Is Back — the journal that covers the picket line.
Sources:
- Nurses Reject Contract, Extend Strike — THE CITY
- Cold Snap Death Toll Rises to 19 — Gothamist