There is nowhere nurses would rather be than at the bedside of their patients. When 15,000 nurses with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) decided that they needed to be outside on the picket line, in record-setting cold, it is because something is deeply wrong inside their hospitals.

What began on January 12 as the largest strike of nursing staff in New York City history has ballooned into an extended war of attrition between workers and CEOs. The nurses’ demands have not changed: safer staffing levels, a modest pay increase, and stricter security measures to keep nurses safe at work.

The response from the bosses has been to spend $100 million on scab nurses, to fire workers who spoke out, and to slander the union. Our governor has also sided with the bosses, signing and then extending an executive order that allows hospitals to disregard training minimums and bring in hundreds of underqualified nurses.