Brigham and Women’s nurses strike begins, demanding better wages, benefits

BOSTON — The largest nurses’ strike in Massachusetts history is now underway at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

About 4,000 union nurses walked off the job after the hospital and the union did not agree on a new contract.

Nurses with MNA, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said they want Mass General Brigham to “negotiate fair contracts that invest in patient care and respect frontline caregivers.”

Nurses at the hospital have been without a contract since March 31.

The one-day strike began Thursday at 7 a.m., but union nurses are not expected to return to work until Monday because replacement nurses hired by the hospital are required to work a minimum five-day assignment.

Hospital officials said Brigham and Women’s Hospital will remain open and continue providing care throughout the work stoppage by bringing in those temporary nurses.

Patients are being told to keep their scheduled appointments unless they are contacted directly by their care team with changes.

The nurses’ union said it asked the hospital to return to the bargaining table before the strike began, but it did not happen.

Joe-Ann Fergus, Executive Director of MNA, told Boston 25 at the strike Wednesday morning, “This is what corporations do when they want to tell the workers that they don’t deserve as much as they are getting paid. The scale that’s in the Brigham contract has been in the Brigham contract since 1967. This is not a brand-new concept. So basically, a corporation like Mass General, which is willing to spend $100 million to just rebrand the name MGB on top of the hospital and another $100 million to replace the nurses that bring the quality to the name that they branded the hospital with, will not spend that money to pay their nurses and tell their nurses that they’re greedy for asking to be paid.”

In a statement sent Wednesday morning after the strike began, Mass General Brigham said, “The MNA’s current proposal would add an additional $128 million in nursing labor costs. This would increase overall BWH nursing wage costs by 19% and result in total BWH nursing compensation costs accounting for nearly 50% of all BWH labor costs, illustrating the significant financial impact of the proposal on the hospital’s overall operating budget. In addition to salary, Mass General Brigham provides benefits, such as health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off and other enhancements, that add approximately 36% to total compensation costs. Applying this fringe rate, Brigham nursing salary and benefit expenses would increase from approximately $746 million to $920 million annually under the MNA ask.”

No word yet on when negotiations between MGB and MNA could take place again

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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