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Nurses at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens gathered Wednesday night to demand a new contract.

The nurses have been negotiating since May 2017.

They want safe staffing, which would allow nurses to work overtime instead of the hospital hiring contracted workers, and they want to protect nurses against workplace violence. The nurses said many of them have faced violence while trying to assist patients.

The nurses said they will continue to picket, but won't allow it to interfere with helping patients.

About 300 McLaren Macomb union nurses and their supporters -- including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed -- held an informational picket Wednesday outside of their Mount Clemens hospital as they try to negotiate a new contract.

At issue at the bargaining table are a pay increase, safe staffing ratios and ways to reduce workplace violence.

Jeff Morawski, president of Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 40 at McLaren, said the hospital submitted a new proposal earlier in the day, about two weeks after the union delivered its most recent proposal. He said union leaders will study the offer and continue negotiations Monday.

Nurses at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens gathered Wednesday night to demand a new contract.

The nurses have been negotiating since May 2017.

They want safe staffing, which would allow nurses to work overtime instead of the hospital hiring contracted workers, and they want to protect nurses against workplace violence. The nurses said many of them have faced violence while trying to assist patients.

Two days after the State Legislature adjourned without acting on a bill to require nurse-staffing minimums in state hospitals and nursing homes, Governor Cuomo June 22 pledged his support for such standards and said he would have state Department of Labor officials ensure that nurses were not improperly burdened.

 Less than six weeks earlier, the New York State Nurses Association, the prime champion of the stalled legislation, had endorsed his re-election, putting yet another left-leaning union in his corner even as Democratic primary challenger Cynthia Nixon seeks to make the case that Mr. Cuomo is not a true progressive.