Overview
- Nearly 2,000 nurses represented by 1199SEIU voted to authorize a three-day strike, with about 90 percent in favor, the union said Friday.
- Nurses cited low starting pay, chronic short-staffing, high turnover, reliance on higher-paid traveling nurses, and workplace safety concerns as reasons for the vote.
- Federal labor rules require the union to give at least 10 days' notice before a hospital strike, and no strike notice has been issued; the next bargaining session is scheduled for Sept. 25.
- BMC says it remains willing to bargain and has proposed 15 to 20 percent wage increases over two years while warning that large operating losses and upcoming federal Medicaid eligibility changes limit what it can offer.
- The vote builds on a summer wave of nursing labor actions in Boston and could pressure both sides to make larger staffing and pay commitments to avoid a walkout that would disrupt care.