From NPR.

Nearly 15,000 nurses — in three major hospital networks — walked off the job in New York City yesterday after their union was unable to secure a new contract agreement. The New York State Nurses Association is calling it the biggest nurses’ strike in city history.

Nurses are negotiating for better hospital security, wages, health benefits and staffing. Hospital executives say they have worked to fill vacancies and improve staffing in recent years. They have characterized the work stoppage as reckless and say with the slow pace of negotiations, it could drag on for a while.