Nurses will vote on July 24 to authorize the MNA Bargaining Committee to hold a one-day strike at Brigham and Women's Hospital if executives refuse to agree to a fair contract that invests in nurses to improve patient safety

BOSTON , July 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The nearly 4,000 Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will vote on July 24 to authorize a one-day strike as nurses negotiate a contract and confront the hospital's increasing dysfunction and failure to protect nurses and patients.

Following an informational picket in May and the participation of a federal mediator in bargaining for three months, Brigham nurses are preparing for a potential strike to ensure Mass General Brigham (MGB) executives make adequate investments in their nursing workforce. Executives must address unsustainable and unsafe working conditions imperiling patient care and inflicting moral injury on nurses who have put their health and safety on the line to provide exceptional patient care.

"We take a strike at the Brigham extremely seriously," said Kelly Morgan, a Brigham labor and delivery nurse and BWH MNA Chair. "MGB executives have forced the hand of Brigham nurses by taking advantage of our dedication to our patients. We care for extremely sick and injured patients without the right equipment, in crowded hallways, through mold and insect infestations, and under the constant threat of violence. Yet these executives – who pay themselves handsomely – refuse to respect Brigham nurses enough to settle a fair contract."

"There are thousands of Brigham nurses knocking down our door to vote for this strike because while they have been drowning trying to care for their patients, management refuses to throw them a lifeline," said Jim McCarthy, a PACU nurse and BWH MNA Vice Chair. "Getting MGB executives to fix problems that are harming patients and nurses has been excruciating. Management refuses to listen to us, the bedside care experts, and would rather pour millions into executive bonuses than nurse retention and recruitment. Voting for this strike is about much more than a contract, it is about the safety and well-being of all Brigham patients and nurses."

Negotiations for a successor to the Brigham nurse contract that expired September 30, 2023, have lasted 10 months and 28 sessions. Voting will take place throughout the day at two locations on July 24. All MNA nurses at BWH are eligible to vote. If nurses authorize a one-day strike, that does not mean a strike will automatically take place. The BWH MNA Bargaining Committee will schedule a strike, if necessary, based on how management proceeds in negotiations following the vote. If a strike is scheduled, the committee must provide at least 10 days' notice.

Nurses are Fighting for:

• Improved staffing and patient care.
  • The strike vote comes amid negotiations for a new contract, but the overall challenges faced by nurses are driving their actions.
  • In open meetings attended by 1,000+ nurses and in organizing conversations with thousands more, Brigham nurses have expressed grave concern over inadequate staffing levels and their impact on patient safety.
  • A competitive wage increase will help address widespread understaffing which puts patients and nurses at risk.
• Health insurance choice. 
  • Brigham nurses are dissatisfied with MGB health insurance. Many nurses are forced to use the insurance and experience long wait times for appointments and imaging, as well as out-of-network costs.
  • Nurses have delivered a petition signed by more than 3,200 nurses demanding the option to change insurance plans during annual enrollment.
  • Management has refused to provide permanent choice and is seeking to increase premiums for 40-hour nurses.
  • As part of their advocacy, nurses launched a series of videos expressing dissatisfaction with Mass General Brigham (MGB) health insurance and demanding better choice: https://www.massnurses.org/BrighamInsurance. 
• A fair and market-competitive wage increase.
  • BWH has historically been a leader in acute care hospital wages.
  • Recently, other hospitals have offered similar if not higher wages, impacting BWH's ability to recruit and retain nurses.
  • Management refuses to even match the recent wage settlement of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Brigham would fall even further behind and continue to face recruitment and retention problems.

MGB's Wealth:

• BWH routinely makes enormous profits, including $108.7 million in the fiscal year-to-date period ending June 30, 2023, and $123 million in FY2022, according to CHIA. System-wide, MGB made $81.6 million in profits in the first quarter of FY2024.
• Anne Klibanski, MGB's president and CEO, made a nearly 25% salary increase from 2020 to 2021, going from $4.3 million to more than $5 million.
• MGB is spending $2 billion expanding Mass General Hospital and Faulkner Hospital. This follows construction of a $465 million HQ in Somerville and a reported $100 million rebranding campaign.
• BWH executive bonuses in FY2022 per an IRS filing:

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association