No negotiations as Brigham and Women’s nurses work stoppage continues

Tensions continued between Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses and management as the work stoppage entered its second day.

MGB officials said Boston Police and security were on alert after nurses “interfered” with a patient who arrived at the hospital, while nurses rebutted no one inside was responding to the emergency.

The work stoppage at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MGB Home Care sites began Wednesday, when Massachusetts Nurses Association members voted to strike after months of contract negotiations failed.

The 4,000 BWH nurses finished their one-day strike Thursday morning, but the work stoppage continued due to a four-day lockout ordered by MGB leadership to accommodate what they called “extensive operational and emergency preparedness measures.” The nurses are expected to return to work July 13 at 7 a.m.

MNA stated there have still been “no negotiations at this point” as of Thursday evening.

“We have told everyone including the Governor, Mayor and MGB that we are ready to negotiate and compromise to resolve the Brigham lockout and MGB Home Care strike,” said MNA spokesperson Joe Markman. “We are waiting for MGB to respond.”

The 450 MGB Home Care clinicians called a seven-day strike to last through July 15 at 8 a.m.

MGB replaced the union members with nearly 1,300 agency nurses at BMC and over 175 home care clinicians. The hospital system has stated they remain fully operational during the stoppage, though the Foxboro Ambulatory Surgery Center will be closed until Friday and some home care work was placed on pause.

In internal communications, MGB officials responded to what they called false claims that picketing nurses were “forced to cross the picket line to help a patient with a medical emergency.”

“The actions by the picketing nurses directly interfered with emergency response efforts, creating unnecessary risk for the patient, who fortunately did not have an adverse outcome,” MGB stated in the internal email. “Our emergency response processes exist to ensure the fastest possible expert clinical assessment and care for patients who need urgent medical attention and worked fully as intended in this case.”

An emergency specialized care team was “immediately mobilized” and arrived “within minutes of receiving the call,” MGB said, though the patient had already been escorted elsewhere by the picketing nurses.

The hospital system officials called the nurses’ action “inappropriate and improper,” adding “we are in direct contact with BWH security and Boston Police to ensure that there is no further interference in patient care.”

An MNA spokesperson said the nurses called a code blue because of a medical emergency.

“No one responded from inside,” Markman said, adding two nurses “had to cross the line to bring the patient inside to get them to the appropriate place.”

The replacement staff “couldn’t even use their badges to get into the elevator and didn’t know where to go.”

Video during the incident provided by the MNA shows a large group of nurses gathered outside the hospital around the apparent medical situation, some yelling “code blue OB” before cheering as something happens out of shot.

In the internal email, MGB officials pushed back on other claims made regarding alleged negative impacts to care at the hospital. Further rifts between the sides appeared as management went on to allege patients and families were “disrupted at night because of picketing,” supplies and equipment were missing and tampered with before the strike, and union nurses “inhibited” the arrival of agency nurses Thursday.

On several of the counts, MGB said they were in touch with security, HR and police.

Video from the MNA posted Thursday morning shows a crowd of nurses packing into an entrance of BWH and chanting, “Let us in.” The union’s caption reads, “We tried go to work today because our strike is over. THEY LOCKED US OUT.”

Sen. Ed Markey and Mayor Michelle Wu joined BWH nurses for an impassioned rally outside the hospital Thursday afternoon, joining a list of state and local officials expressing support for the labor action.

MGB Home Care nurses also scheduled a rally in Somerville with elected officials for Friday morning at 10 a.m. as their strike continues. The BWH nurses are also scheduled to continue their picket lines Friday, stating they “will picket 24/7 outside the main hospital until the lockout ends.”