Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses in Boston return after 5-day work stoppage

Nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston went back to work Monday morning after a tense four-day lockout and one-day strike.

The union nurses returned to their regularly scheduled shifts at 7 a.m., five days after they walked off the job in a dispute over pay and health insurance costs with Mass General Brigham (MGB), which owns the hospital.

Negotiations on a new contract remained at a standstill Monday.

When the 4,000 nurses went on strike last Wednesday it became the largest health care strike in Massachusetts history. It turned into a lockout on Thursday when the nurses tried to return to work but weren't allowed into the facility on Francis Street. The hospital said that's because the nearly 1,300 replacement nurses had a five-day contract with MGB to cover the strike.

Nearly 500 MGB home health care clinicians continued their weeklong strike on Monday. That's scheduled to end after a rally at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Somerville. They're looking for their first contract after forming a union in 2024.

The home health care workers said they no longer get paid overtime, and they're being asked to work more hours and also do more paperwork once their patient care shifts end.

In a statement to WBZ-TV on Friday, MGB said it believes its most recent offer recognizes the essential contributions of home care clinicians and offers highly competitive pay.