Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses walk out, beginning largest nurses strike in state history
Thousands of nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital went on strike Wednesday as they fight with the state’s largest health care system over pay increases and insurance costs.
The walkout is the biggest ever for nurses in Massachusetts, and the first at the Brigham, a nationally renowned Harvard teaching hospital. While the strike is only scheduled for one day, nurses will be locked out of the hospital until July 13. Brigham, one of Mass General Brigham’s two flagship hospitals, is contractually obligated to provide temporary nurses with five days of work, MGB told staff.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents about 4,000 nurses at the Brigham, and MGB have been negotiating a new contract for months, to no avail. A separate group of 450 clinicians who visit patients at their homes under MGB Home Care also went on strike Wednesday, for seven days.
MGB representatives said they have secured nearly 1,300 temporary nurses to keep the hospital running as normal. But that hasn’t stopped patients and policy leaders from worrying about the ramifications of the work stoppage. Governor Maura Healey called a meeting of both sides Monday to negotiate, to no avail.
In a joint statement Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and Representatives Stephen Lynch and Ayanna Pressley urged both sides to continue negotiating.
“Nurses are the backbone of our health care system, and we rely on their skills, compassion, and tireless work ethic to care for our loved ones,” the statement said, adding that the Brigham nurses and MGB Home Care workers “deserve a fair contract that reflects the essential contributions they make each and every day.”
Both sides are particularly far apart on wages. The union wants a 3 percent raise for the first six months and a 4 percent raise for the next 12 months of the contract. The hospital isn’t offering any new across-the-board raise. Management points out nurses already receive a 5 percent raise on the yearly anniversary of their hiring — a so-called step increase — until they reach two decades of service, which helps make Brigham nurses among the highest paid in the state.
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For health insurance, management wants nurses who are enrolled in Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan, which is more than half of the membership, to pay 2.5 percentage points more of their monthly premium.
MGB said the nurses’ demands are not “financially sustainable and not supported by the current labor market.”
MGB Home Care clinicians are seeking caseload limits, clearer productivity standards, and higher wages.
MGB spokesperson Jessica Pastore said that disruptions to care will be minimal, although some patients will have to reschedule appointments or be seen at another MGB location.
The health system’s surgical center in Foxborough will be closed Wednesday to Friday. MGB Home Care is pausing new referrals and some social work and dietitian visits.
The Globe is interested in speaking with people impacted by the strike. Please email Marin Wolf at [email protected] and/or Jonathan Saltzman at [email protected].
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