Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association are set to begin an open-ended strike at 7 a.m. Oct. 14 at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The union represents 4,000 nurses at the hospital and gave the required 10-day notice Oct. 2, according to a union news release. If held, the strike would continue until a contract agreement is reached. Nurses voted 2,986 to 215 on Sept. 24 to authorize a walkout, which followed a strike in July.
The union said nurses are seeking limits on the hospital’s use of temporary nurses, affordable health insurance with plan choice, a cost-of-living wage increase and a differential for nurses required to float among units.
“There is still time to reach an agreement that protects patient care and respects nurses,” Kelly Morgan, RN, a labor and delivery nurse and chair of the hospital’s MNA bargaining committee, said in the release. “MGB needs to come back to the table and negotiate without preconditions.”
The hospital said the remaining issues are economic and that no patient safety or workplace safety proposals are on the table, following 25 negotiating sessions.
“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 hospital said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “We remain willing to meet with the MNA if the union is ready to make meaningful movement toward resolution on the outstanding issues.”
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is part of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham.
