More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are set to strike on July 8.
Leaders at the hospital, owned by Mass General Brigham, met with union members Thursday but failed to reach a contract agreement. No additional bargaining sessions are scheduled at this time.
The outstanding issues are wages and health care contributions. The union wants a 3% pay increase in the first year of the contract and 4% in the second. Hospital negotiators haven’t offered any across-the-board raises. They say the 5% boost each nurse receives on their yearly work anniversary — what’s called a step increase — will keep Brigham nurses among the highest paid in the state.
For health insurance, the hospital is asking nurses who opt for a Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan, about half of union members, to pay 2.5 percentage points more of their monthly premium. Nurses currently pay between 0% and 20%, depending on hours worked and the type of coverage.
Virtually all of the nurses who voted supported the decision to strike. In prior contracts, nurses have received higher wages across the board in addition to their step increases.
“A 0% offer from MGB is not just about wages, it is completely disrespectful to Brigham nurses and puts our patients at risk by undermining our nursing workforce,” said Jim McCarthy, a nurse and member of the bargaining committee in a statement. “MGB is essentially proposing a wage cut for nurses who care for the most medically complex patients in the world.”
McCarthy and other Brigham nurses who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association are angry that nurses are being asked to make sacrifices in this contract while top executives at Mass General Brigham make well over a million dollars a year, including $8.4 million for the CEO, Dr. Anne Klibanski, in 2024.
Hospital leaders said the union’s proposal, in addition to the step raises, would cost more than $90 million a year and increase the hospital’s health care costs beyond a state-imposed target of 3.6% a year.
“We take seriously the union’s decision to strike and are fully prepared to continue providing high-quality patient care throughout a work stoppage,” the hospital said in an emailed statement. “We respect and value our nurses and remain committed to reaching a fair agreement.”
The Brigham is bringing in more than 1,200 traveling nurses who will begin preparations in advance of July 8. While the union has only called for a one-day strike, the hospital said traveling nurses require a five-day minimum in their contract so union nurses will not be allowed to return to work until July 13.
Another 450 clinicians with Mass General Brigham’s home care program will also go out on July 8 for a strike that is expected to last seven days. In Worcester, nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center have authorized a 14-day strike but no date has been set.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the insurance premium increase proposed by Brigham. The hospital proposed a 2.5 percentage point increase on the current rate paid by nurses.
