Brigham and Women's nurses authorize open-ended strike
With contract talks stalled since August, unionized Mass General Brigham employees voted 93% in favor of a 4,000-nurse demonstration that could be the largest in Massachusetts history.
Nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a potentially groundbreaking, indefinite strike, which could become the largest in Massachusetts history. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) reported that 93% of the 4,000-member voting pool favored the action, taken Thursday evening. No specific start date has been chosen by the union, which must notify the employer, Mass General Brigham (MGB), of a strike within 10 days.
Kelly Morgan, a labor and delivery nurse and chair of the Brigham and Women's Hospital MNA Bargaining Committee, stated that nurses are ready to continue the strike "as long as it takes to win a contract that protects our patients and respects the nurses who care for them." The union emphasized that an open-ended strike would pose a significant healthcare crisis in Massachusetts, urging MGB to return to the negotiating table.
Contract discussions between the parties began in November, with the previous agreement expiring on March 31. Earlier this year, 450 home care clinicians joined the nurses in a one-day awareness strike, marking a state record and the first such action at Brigham and Women's. Continued demonstrations have included a rally outside a MGB-hosted World Medical Innovation Forum, where members contrasted executives' investor talks on AI with the needs of their clinical workforce.
The hospital maintains a commitment to good-faith bargaining, presenting a fair proposal maintaining market-leading compensation, wage growth, and competitive benefits while balancing investments with the system's long-term financial sustainability. The hospital has previously struck agreements with the union on several issues but reiterated the ongoing need for limits on temporary nurses, more affordable health insurance benefits, and a "meaningful cost-of-living wage increase" with unit differentials.
MGB, as the largest private employer in Massachusetts, employs around 85,000 workers and generates $22.8 billion in annual revenue, ranking among the country's largest nonprofit health systems. The organization reported a $15 million operating income (0.1% operating margin) across nine months of its fiscal year, an improvement from the $44 million operating loss (-0.3% operating margin) but still including nonoperating gains like investment returns totaling $1.9 billion.
The union has criticized MGB's financial performance, asset value ($35.8 billion), and executive compensation, with CEO Anne Klibanski earning nearly $9.2 million.
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