Brigham nurses union sets date for "largest open-ended nurse strike in Massachusetts history"

The nurses union at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston has set a date for what it says would be the "largest open-ended nurse strike in Massachusetts history."

The Massachusetts Nurses Association says 4,000 registered nurses will walk off the job on Oct. 14 unless a contract dispute with Mass General Brigham is resolved. The two sides have been battling over wages and health insurance costs. 

In July, the nurses went on a one-day strike but were locked out for four additional days by the hospital, which said temporary replacement nurses were contracted for five days of work. It was the largest healthcare strike in state history.

An open-ended strike could be much more disruptive to patients. In 2001, nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester went on strike for 301 days.

"We have repeatedly tried to get MGB to negotiate and avoid a second strike, but the billionaires who run MGB have shut the door on us," Kelly Morgan, a nurse and bargaining committee chair, said in a statement. "There is still time to reach an agreement that protects patient care and respects nurses. MGB needs to come back to the table and negotiate without preconditions."  

The union says MGB is the most profitable hospital system in the state, but wants nurses to agree to a multiyear pay freeze. The hospital says its nurses are already among the highest-paid locally and nationwide, and it says nurses will continue to get annual raises as they progress through their wage scale.

"We take seriously the union's decision to issue a strike notice and are fully prepared to continue providing safe, high-quality care for our patients throughout a strike," the Brigham said in a statement. "While we had hoped to avoid another strike, our teams have comprehensive plans in place, informed by our experience during the five-day work stoppage in July, to support continuity of care across Brigham and Women's Hospital."