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Vol. 1 · No. 001 · June 2026

The Shift Report

Voice of NYP Lower Manhattan Nurses — By Nurses, For Nurses · CWA Local 1104 Rank & File Communication

From the Bargaining Unit

Our Staffing. Our Record.

By The Shift Report Editorial Team

Welcome to the first issue of The Shift Report, a rank-and-file nurse communication space created for NYP Lower Manhattan nurses represented by CWA Local 1104.

This space was built to help nurses know who their delegates are, understand the CBA, document staffing concerns, follow staffing committee and labor-management updates, recognize coworkers, share stories, and support one another across every unit and every shift.

When staffing does not match the grid, document it. When breaks are missed because there is no coverage, document it. When an assignment feels unsafe, document it. A bad shift is easy to dismiss. A documented pattern is much harder to ignore.

Facts win. Receipts matter. Staffing is safety.

This newsletter is one more way to make sure nurses are informed, connected, and harder to ignore.

One hospital. Many units. One voice.

Find My DelegateFile a Staffing ComplaintSubmit POA IntakeSend Something InBulletin Board One-PagerSingle-page version for the break room
§ 01

Hospital Watch

Policies, leadership, infrastructure, events, and hospital-wide updates nurses should know about.

Current status

No verified Hospital Watch update has been posted yet.

Categories we'll cover:
  • Nursing policy changes
  • Practice updates
  • Infrastructure changes
  • Unit moves or renovations
  • Leadership changes
  • Parking / security updates
  • Hospital events
  • Social meetups
  • Verified tips
Submit a Hospital Watch Tip →
Warning — No rumors. No screenshots. No "my cousin heard from night shift" journalism. Send verified updates only.
§ 02

Clinical Staffing Committee

Staffing is safety. This section shares general, non-confidential updates about staffing committee work.

Current update: The Clinical Staffing Committee is currently reviewing and proposing each unit's staffing grid for 2027. Both leadership and frontline worker representatives are making proposals.

At the last meeting on 5/13/26, ED and ICU frontline staff presented their proposed staffing grids.

Voting is expected to take place at the next meeting on 5/26/26 at 8:30 AM.

What nurses should know: Staffing grids affect the baseline staffing expectations for each unit and shift. Frontline input matters because bedside nurses understand the real workload, acuity, patient flow, admissions, discharges, boarding, and support-staff needs that do not always show up cleanly on paper.

What nurses can do:

· Talk to your unit delegate or frontline staffing representative.
· Share factual concerns about your unit's staffing needs.
· File a staffing complaint through the tracker when actual staffing does not match the grid or conditions feel unsafe.
· Keep documentation factual and de-identified.

Do not publish actual proposed grids, confidential discussion details, meeting strategy, or individual comments unless approved.

§ 03

At the Table

Labor-Management Updates · Pending next meeting.

This section will summarize general, non-confidential labor-management topics and follow-up items relevant to nurses.

Format used when updates are available:

· Meeting date
· General topics raised
· Follow-up requested
· Updates received
· Items still pending
· What nurses should know

Do not post confidential strategy, private personnel issues, grievance details, individual disciplinary matters, or patient-identifying information.

§ 04

Contract Decoded

The CBA is our roadmap. This section explains parts of the contract in plain English so nurses understand what it says, what it means, and what to do when something does not seem right.

Article of the Month

Article 7: Vacation, Decoded

The formula is real. The seniority pick is real. Use them.

Vacation is in your contract. Not a favor. Not a privilege your manager grants. A negotiated benefit with rules, deadlines, and a written process. Most nurses lose vacation fights because they don't know the language. Here's the language.

What you get

  • 20 days paid vacation per year as a regular full-time RN.
  • 25 days per year after 5 years of employment.
  • You can request 10 vacation days after just 6 months on the job.
  • Part-time nurses get prorated time.
  • Vacation days are not cumulative. Use them within your anniversary year or you lose them.

When the year runs

  • The vacation year is January 1 through December 31.
  • Vacation requests filed after December 1 for the next year are first-come, first-served — not by seniority.
  • That December 1 deadline is the seniority cutoff. If you have seniority on your unit, file before December 1 to use it.

How scheduling actually works

  • At least one nurse per unit per shift is allowed off on vacation at all times of year. That floor is in your contract. Management cannot deny vacation by claiming "no one can be off" — your unit always has at least one slot.
  • Full weeks beat partial weeks. If two nurses request the same week and one is asking for a full week and the other for two days, the full week wins.
  • You get a written answer within 14 days of submitting a request.
  • Your scheduled vacation must appear on the posted work schedule.

The summer pick (Memorial Day → week after Labor Day)

  • A formula determines how many RNs per unit per shift can be off each week during the prime summer period. It's based on the schedule grid and the staffing budget.
  • The list goes in seniority order. Most senior nurse on the unit picks first. Once they pick, the list moves to the next senior nurse, and so on.
  • When the number of weeks available equals the number of nurses still picking, picks are limited to one week per nurse so everyone gets summer time.
  • Maximum two consecutive weeks of vacation in the summer period — or three weeks if you have more than 5 years of seniority.
  • Management cannot reduce the formula "in an arbitrary or capricious manner." That's contract language. If your manager cuts the number of summer slots without a written reason tied to actual staffing needs, that's a grievable change.

Single days

  • You can request up to 5 single vacation days per year.
  • Single-day requests must be made before the schedule is posted.
  • Single-day pay shows up on your next paycheck after the vacation — not in advance.

Holidays + vacation

  • If a recognized hospital holiday falls during your scheduled vacation, you get an extra vacation day added to your bank.

Vacation pay in advance

  • Request it 4 weeks before vacation starts and the hospital pays you for the vacation period before you leave. Useful if you're planning a trip.

What to do on your unit

  1. Know your seniority. Ask your delegate to confirm where you sit on the seniority list for your unit.
  2. File summer requests early. Before the seniority pick opens. Get on the list.
  3. File all non-summer vacation by December 1. After December 1 it's first-come, first-served — your seniority stops working for you.
  4. Get the answer in writing within 14 days. If you don't get a written response, escalate to your delegate.
  5. If your unit's summer formula gets cut, ask for the written reason. "Arbitrary or capricious" reductions are grievable. Make management justify any reduction.
Bottom line → Article 7 gives you 20–25 days of vacation a year, a guaranteed one-nurse-per-unit-per-shift floor, a seniority-based summer pick, and a 14-day clock on every request. Use the deadlines, file in writing, and ask your delegate when something doesn't smell right.

The full CBA PDF is being moved behind member-only access until union leadership approves public posting. Contact a delegate for a copy in the meantime.

§ 05

Know Your Delegates

Your first call when something feels off on the floor.

Delegates are here to help nurses understand the CBA, document concerns, prepare for meetings, raise staffing issues, and connect with union resources. You do not need to wait until something becomes a five-alarm disaster to reach out. Earlier is better. Always.

Some units have multiple delegates. Some units may still need representation. If your unit is not listed, contact any delegate or the Chief Steward and we'll help connect you.

Need the full, updated directory? Visit Know Your Delegates.Full Delegate Directory →
PACU
Lavita Payton, RN
Chief Steward
Contact info coming soon
Emergency Department
Elsa Siddiqui, RN
Contact info coming soon
Emergency Department
Timothy Smeja, RN
Contact info coming soon
Emergency Department
Jacquelyn Hoberg, RN
Contact info coming soon
Emergency Department
Arjun Behal, RN
Contact info coming soon
5C / Med-Surg
Crystal Maldonado, RN
Contact info coming soon
5C / Med-Surg
Jerry Sun, RN
Contact info coming soon
Float Pool / Med-Surg
Marco Adalim, RN
Contact info coming soon
Neonatal ICU
Angela Mari-Bangcaya, RN
Contact info coming soon
3C ICU
Michelle Bandigan, RN
Contact info coming soon
3C ICU
Kerri Larkin, RN
Contact info coming soon
OB / Mother Baby
Baby Lagar, RN
Contact info coming soon
OB / Mother Baby
Meina Huang, RN
Contact info coming soon
Labor & Delivery
Mary Ji, RN
Contact info coming soon
Ambulatory Surgery
Samantha Chiodo, RN
Contact info coming soon
Operating Room
Jezelle John, RN
Contact info coming soon
4C / Tele Med-Surg
No delegate listed yet — interested in stepping up?
Be a Delegate →
4A / Med-Surg
No delegate listed yet — interested in stepping up?
Be a Delegate →
Be a Delegate →Full delegate directory →
§ 06

Know Your Weingarten Rights

Rep before you speak.

Weingarten Rights · NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. (1975)

If you reasonably believe a meeting could lead to discipline, you have the right to request union representation.

"I am willing to cooperate, but I am requesting union representation before continuing because I believe this meeting could result in discipline."

Once you ask for representation, stop answering questions until representation is present or the meeting is ended.

Nurse-to-nurse note: Do not argue. Do not guess. Do not overexplain. Do not fill awkward silence with a 45-minute director's cut of your shift. Ask for a rep and wait.

Contact a Delegate →
§ 07

Albany Watch

Nursing. Labor. Law. Politics.

This month’s Albany Watch tracks bills and laws affecting bedside nurses: safe staffing, Clinical Staffing Committees, workplace violence, mandatory overtime, nurse licensure, and retention.

Featured bills and laws

  • S4003 / A7095 — Safe Staffing for Hospital Care Act
  • S8083A / A8623A — Clinical Staffing Committees for state-operated facilities
  • S4906A / A6055 — Healthcare Worker Assault Reporting
  • S6662 — Assault protections for healthcare workers
  • A4524 / S3916 — Nurse Licensure Compact / APRN Compact
  • S6525 — Nursing Shortage Correction Act
  • NY Public Health Law §2805-t — Clinical Staffing Committees
  • NY Labor Law §167 — Mandatory overtime protections

Bill status changes quickly. Albany Watch is for general education and issue awareness. Always verify current status through official NYS legislative sources before taking action.

View Full Albany Watch Tracker →
§ 08

Dear Nurse Next Door

Anonymous advice from a fellow bedside nurse.

Write in: editor@nypcwanurses.com

Dear Nurse Next Door —

What should I do when I'm given an assignment that feels unsafe, but everyone tells me, "This is just how it is"? I don't want to seem difficult, but I also don't want to risk my license or my patients.

First, trust the little alarm bell.

You know — the one that starts ringing right around the time someone says, "It should be fine," while handing you an assignment built like a group project nobody supervised.

If an assignment feels unsafe, that does not mean you are dramatic. It may mean your clinical judgment is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: noticing risk before something bad happens.

Stay calm, factual, and painfully professional. Do not make it about personalities. Make it about conditions.

Ask yourself what specifically makes the assignment unsafe: patient count, acuity, lack of support staff, no sitter, no break coverage, charge nurse in assignment, floating without proper orientation, too many admissions or discharges, or high acuity not reflected in staffing.

Then document it. File a staffing complaint through the tracker. Notify the appropriate charge nurse, manager, or supervisor. Contact your delegate. Use POA Intake when you need delegate follow-up.

A bad shift is easy to dismiss when it stays trapped in the group chat. A documented pattern is much harder to ignore.

Suggested phrase: "I have a patient safety concern about this assignment due to acuity and available support. I am going to document the concern and notify the appropriate person."

You are not being difficult by raising a safety concern. You are being a nurse.

— The Nurse Next Door

Dear Nurse Next Door offers peer support and general guidance. It is not legal advice, HR advice, mental health treatment, or formal grievance guidance. For discipline, investigatory meetings, grievances, unsafe assignments, or urgent workplace concerns, contact a delegate.

§ 09

Bedside Ballot

Cast your vote. Spill the tea. Shape the shift.

What is the biggest issue affecting your unit right now?
Issue #1 Poll · One vote per device
Click an option to vote. One vote per device.
RN
★ Nurse of the Month ★

First honoree coming soon.

Lift up a coworker. Tell us why.

Nominate a nurse who supports coworkers, advocates for patients, precepts with patience, keeps the unit from falling into complete nonsense, or simply makes hard shifts more bearable.

Nominate a Nurse →

Got a story, tip, question, photo, poll idea, or nomination?

Send it in →