Mass General Brigham sends cease-and-desist letter to striking nurses over "significant noise and activity"

Nurses on the picket line in Boston got a cease-and-desist letter from Mass General Brigham as tensions escalate, with no sign of contract negotiations restarting.  

The chants and cheers continued in front of Brigham and Women's Hospital on Francis Street Friday night. The largest nurses strike in state history turned into a lockout with picketing set to enter a fourth day.

"We've heard nothing. It's been radio silence from the hospital," said nurse and lead union negotiator Kelly Morgan.

The strike over nurse pay was only set to last for one day. But when nurses tried to return to work Thursday, they were locked out. There are also 450 home health care clinicians on a week-long strike. 

The hospital says contracts with 1,300 replacement nurses run for five days, so the striking nurses can't return to work until Monday.

Cease-and-desist letter for "excessive noise"

The 24/7 noise of the striking nurses is the center of the hospital's latest move.

"We have heard concerns from patients, families, visitors, staff, and nearby residents about the significant noise and activity outside the hospital, particularly overnight," Mass General Brigham said in a statement. "Because this disruption is affecting residents and the hospital's healing environment and creating challenges for patients and care teams, this afternoon we sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Massachusetts Nurses Association regarding excessive noise and other disruptive activities associated with the picketing, and we will be sharing a letter of apology with our neighbors."

Nurses said the fastest way to stop the noise is to start negotiating again.

"We are ready willing and able to come back to the table at any point in time," Morgan said. "We are ready willing and able to go back to work at any time."

Governor Healey visits picket line

For the first time, Governor Maura Healey stopped by the picket line on Friday, after calling both sides to her office two times earlier this week in an attempt to break the stalemate.

"It needs to happen. The health care workers and nurses got to be back to work. This has got to end," Healey said.

Tensions between the two sides have been on full display. Earlier this week, a woman pulled up to the ER in distress. Striking nurses crossed the picket line to help her, accusing the hospital's replacement nurses of running slow.

But video obtained by WBZ shows staff inside running to the ER carport to assist when the patient arrived. The hospital continues to claim patient services have not been impacted.

But Lynda Rivers has a different story. Her 81-year-old father has been in and out of Brigham and Women's Hospital for decades. "He rings his call bell no one comes," Rivers said.  

She knows this hospital well. Her father was re-admitted Friday and she is nervous to leave his bedside.

"I ask for help, and I am just sent to somebody else. Nobody knows what is going on and I feel like no one is caring for my dad and that is completely different than how it usually is here."

WBZ-TV has asked Mass General Brigham for an interview, but they continue to communicate through statements. Nurses say they feel no closer to a deal now than they were last week.