Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association have authorized a potential open-ended strike at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital, leaving the door open for what the union said would be the largest such walkout in state history.
The strike, if called, would cover 4,000 nurses at the hospital, which is part of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, according to a Sept. 24 union news release. Nurses voted 2,986 to 215, or 93%, in favor of authorizing a walkout.
The vote follows a strike in July, and rallies held outside the system’s World Medical Innovation Forum earlier this month.
“Whether to call a strike is a decision only the union can make,” Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “We remain committed to bargaining in good faith and have put forward a fair and responsible proposal that maintains Brigham nurses’ market-leading compensation, preserves meaningful wage growth and competitive benefits, and balances those investments with the long-term financial sustainability of our system.”
The hospital said it hopes a strike can be avoided but has comprehensive plans to continue providing care if one is called.
The union said nurses are seeking limits on the system’s use of temporary nurses, affordable health insurance with a choice of plans, a cost-of-living wage increase and a differential for nurses required to float among units.
The bargaining committee has not set a strike date. Nurses must give the hospital 10 days’ notice before a walkout, and if held, the union said the strike would continue until a contract agreement is reached.
