Overview
- Union members voted Thursday to authorize an open-ended strike, a step that gives the Massachusetts Nurses Association bargaining committee the right to call a walkout after providing the legally required 10-day notice.
- The union reported a decisive result, saying nurses voted roughly 2,986 to 215 in favor of authorization, which would cover about 4,000 Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses.
- Nurses are pushing for cost-of-living across-the-board raises, limits on the hospital system’s use of temporary travel nurses, the ability to choose a more affordable health plan, and extra pay for nurses forced to float between units.
- Mass General Brigham says it has bargained in good faith across about 25 sessions, contends Brigham nurses rank among the highest paid locally and nationally, and argues the union’s additional demands would be financially unsustainable.
- The vote raises the prospect of a disruptive walkout that could begin soon if called, narrows the window for last-minute bargaining because of the 10-day notice rule, and adds to a wider wave of hospital labor actions in the Boston area this year.