Nurses at Brigham and Women’s, Faulkner hospitals to vote on potential strike, union says

BOSTON — Thousands of registered nurses at Brigham and Women’s and Faulkner Hospitals are expected to vote next week to authorize a potential one-day strike, the nurses’ union said.

Nearly 4,000 Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will vote on Wednesday to authorize a one-day strike as nurses “negotiate a contract and confront the hospital’s increasing dysfunction and failure to protect nurses and patients,” the union said.

“We take a strike at the Brigham extremely seriously,” said Kelly Morgan, a Brigham labor and delivery nurse and Brigham and Women’s MNA Chair. “MGB executives have forced the hand of Brigham nurses by taking advantage of our dedication to our patients. We care for extremely sick and injured patients without the right equipment, in crowded hallways, through mold and insect infestations, and under the constant threat of violence. Yet these executives – who pay themselves handsomely – refuse to respect Brigham nurses enough to settle a fair contract.”

Plans for the one-day strike follows an informational picket in May and the participation of a federal mediator in bargaining for three months, union officials said.

In addition, approximately 500 registered nurses of Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, also represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will vote next Thursday to authorize a potential one-day strike.

“Nurses are preparing for a strike because after months of negotiations, Mass General Brigham refuses to provide Faulkner nurses wage parity with Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses, and thereby is failing to address longstanding unsafe staffing and patient safety issues,” the MNA said in a statement.

“MGB executives have long treated Faulkner Hospital like a part of Brigham and Women’s Hospital but refuse to compensate us equally and ensure Faulkner has the nurses needed for safe patient care,” said Dan Rec, a registered nurse at Faulkner and co-chair of the union’s Bargaining Committee, said in a statement.

“We are concerned about the damaging cycle of Faulkner nurses receiving lower pay than the Brigham, making retention and recruitment difficult, and leading to understaffing, danger, and stress,” Rec said.

A positive strike vote will give the nurses elected to the Faulkner Massachusetts Nurses Association Bargaining Committee authorization to hold a one-day strike if necessary.

A strike date has not been set. If scheduled, that date will be announced to the public once the hospital has been given the 10-day notice as required by law.

Faulkner nurses would then plan to hold a 24-hour strike unless Faulkner agreed to a fair contract by that date, the union said.

“We don’t want to strike but are prepared to act out of concern for the safety of our patients and the health of our nursing workforce,” said Kathy Glennon, a registered nurse at Faulkner and co-chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association Bargaining Committee. “The wage disparity between Brigham and the Faulkner is a significant drag on our ability to keep nurses at the Faulkner and overcome the many challenges of our current healthcare system.”

Nurses at Faulkner Hospital currently make “significantly less” than nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, union officials said.

The top step of the Faulkner salary scale is $78.85. The top step at Brigham and Women’s Hospital is $86.95, which is a nearly a 10 percent difference in pay, union officials said. Faulkner’s beginning salary scale is $32.54, compared with Brigham and Women’s Hospital at $36.04.

“Yet MGB treats the Faulkner like it is part of the Brigham. Faulkner patient care and working conditions are just as challenging, and the hospital has dozens of vacant nursing positions,” the nurses union said in its statement.

Negotiations for a successor to the Brigham nurse contract that expired Sept. 30, 2023, have lasted 10 months and 28 sessions.

According to the nurses union, Brigham Women’s Hospital “routinely makes enormous profits, including $108.7 million in the fiscal year-to-date period ending June 30, 2023, and $123 million in FY2022, according to CHIA.

System-wide, MGB made $81.6 million in profits in the first quarter of FY2024.

Anne Klibanski, MGB’s president and CEO, made a nearly 25% salary increase from 2020 to 2021, going from $4.3 million to more than $5 million, the nurses union said.

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

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group