NOLA Nurses Were on Strike Through Super Bowl Weekend

• As thousands of people converged on New Orleans for Super Bowl weekend, hundreds of nurses were blocked from returning to work following a two-day strike. 
• The block was related to a contract with a staffing agency to bring in temporary nurses, according to local media reports. 
• The strike occurred during a high-traffic weekend for the city, which hosted its first big event since the New Year’s Day terrorist attack that resulted in 14 deaths and dozens of injuries. 

As thousands of people converged on New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX, hundreds of nurses were blocked from returning to work following a two-day strike that had the support of the NFL Players Association. 

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the NFLPA said it stands “in solidary” with the practitioners. 

“Over a year ago, these nurses made the courageous choice to organize and win a historic union election to improve conditions at University Medical Center,” the statement read. “ … When nurses have a voice, patients are safer. We urge LCMC administration to do the right thing.” 

Our union fully supports the LCMC nurses pic.twitter.com/QBrlkiRZ7W

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 7, 2025

Some University Medical Center (UMC) nurses said they would prefer to care for patients rather than stand on a picket line, but felt hospital leadership left them little choice. 

“We have to show them how committed we are to the fight for a fair contract,” Kisha Montes, RN, stated in a NNU news release. “The last month has only demonstrated how urgent this is for us and our patients.” 

The strike, held Feb. 5-6, was a response to stalled contract negotiations after nurses voted in December 2023 to unionize. 

Why Did UMC ‘Lockout’ Nurses?

NOLA.com reported that the three-day lockout following the strike is due to “contractual requirements with the staffing agency providing replacements.” A travel agency will supply about 300 nurses at a cost of “roughly $10 million.” 

When hospitals or medical facilities arrange outside staffing with agencies, those contracts typically specify start and end dates for the temporary staff and clauses that detail penalties for terminating the contract. 

At the Bargaining Table

Both nurses and hospital leadership have expressed concern with how long negotiations have taken. They’ve met more than two dozen times with four meetings still scheduled through March, according to NOLA.com. 

Unfair labor practice charges have been filed on both sides amid the disputes.  

In addition to staffing and pay issues that typically come with a strike, UMC nurses also have brough the issues of parking and paid parental leave to the table. 

“LCMC [UMC’s parent company] has given non-union employees at UMC and staff at its seven other hospitals free parking and improved parental leave benefits, but those were not made available to union nurses due to ongoing negotiations,” NOLA.com reported. “UMC nurses currently pay $500 per year for parking.” 

The Bigger Picture

The Super Bowl was the first large-scale event in New Orleans since the New Year’s Day terrorist attacked that left 14 people dead and nearly 60 injured. Ricky Bryant, RN, was among the nurses who treated patients in the aftermath. 

“There were patients everywhere. Patients with gunshot wounds, blunt-trauma injuries,” Bryant told NBC-affiliate WDSU News. 

Another nurse told CBS-affiliate 4WWL that what she witnessed in the aftermath of the attack was the largest mass casualty attack she’d seen in nearly 20 years at UMC. 

The Bottom Line

Nurses at New Orleans’ University Medical Center initiated a two-day strike leading up the Super Bowl, which was hosted in the city. But contractual requirements between UMC and the travel staffing company that they worked with to fill the strike-induced vacancies caused staff nurses to be “locked out” over the weekend. UMC nurses voted to unionize in December 2023 and have been negotiating a contract for nearly one year to no avail. Both sides have expressed frustration with the length of negotiations.  

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