Overview
- The Massachusetts Nurses Association gave Brigham and Women’s Hospital a legally required 10-day strike notice on Friday and said 4,000 nurses will walk out at 7 a.m. on Oct. 14 unless a contract is reached.
- Union members overwhelmingly authorized an open-ended strike in a Sept. 24 vote that was 2,986 to 215, empowering the local bargaining committee to call the walkout.
- Nurses are asking for cost-of-living wage increases, more affordable health insurance with meaningful plan choice, limits on the use of temporary travel nurses, and pay protections when floated between units.
- Mass General Brigham says it has held at least 25 bargaining sessions since last November, calls the remaining differences economic, and says it is operationally prepared to maintain care and may reuse temporary nurses if needed.
- The dispute follows a July one-day strike and a four-day lockout when the hospital used roughly 1,300 temporary nurses, and the conflict could affect patient access and staffing across Boston given MGB’s large size and other recent hospital labor actions.