Brigham and Women’s nurses and the hospital administration are set to return to the bargaining table Monday in an effort to head off the renewed strike scheduled for Thursday.
The over 4,000 Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association voted to issue 10-day notice last week for an open-ended strike starting on Thursday, Nov. 12.
The renewed strike follows the union’s decision to delay their strike in October to allow members to review what the hospital called their “last, best and final” offer, which the nurses ultimately rejected days later.
On Sunday, nurses amassed outside two “businesses connected to Mass General Brigham board members,” THL Partners private equity firm and the ‘Quin House social club. The nurses leafletted at the locations through the day, joined by former Secretary of State and Senator John Kerry, who showed his support for the union before entering the ‘Quin.
The MNA said Sunday’s actions aimed to urge “MGB to negotiate in good faith on Nov. 9 and reach a fair contract that helps ensure safe patient care before an open-ended strike beginning Nov. 12.”
“The actions are designed to draw attention to the MGB Board’s role in supporting the positions and decisions that have led nurses to strike as well as to call attention to potential conflicts of interest for some members of the Board,” MNA said.
The union also cited their decision to hire an outside law firm to request the Attorney General “investigate MGB’s non-profit status because of potential conflicts of interest,” saying the THL firm “previously invested in US Nursing, which was hired by MGB to temporarily replace Brigham nurses” during the previous strike in July.
Both sides are set to resume negotiation on Monday morning. MGB said the “remaining issues at the bargaining table relate to compensation and benefits, including wages and health insurance,” adding “no patient or workplace safety proposals remain unresolved.”
However among their outstanding issues, the union said they’re also seeking limits on temporary nurses and a “float differential that helps limit nurses from having to move from patient assignment to patient assignment,” as well as the health insurance and wage scale issues.
MGB hospital administrators said they’ve participated in 27 bargaining sessions with the union over the last 11 months and believe they’ve reached “agreement on many issues.” Their offer represents a revision allowing all nurses to “receive increases to their base wages rather than a blended approach where most nurses received a base pay increase and some nurses received a bonus.”
“Despite union claims, Brigham nurses would not receive a 0% raise in this contract offer,” MGB said in an update. “The hospital’s offer would keep our nurses among the highest-paid locally, statewide, and nationally.”
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The union has noted MGB is the “most profitable hospital system” in the state, with $2.3 billion in profits, $35 billion in assets, and CEO compensation of $9.2 million.
“MGB seems to have plenty of money to fund those decisions, while also reducing or eliminating care for vulnerable populations,” the MNA said of executive compensation. “MGB should go to bargaining on Nov. 9 and put its focus and resources on a fair contract that benefits patients, nurses, and the whole community.”
MGB said the hospital will “stay open and ready to care for patients during a strike,” with a majority of temporary nurses who worked during the July strike “familiar with the Brigham and our healthcare system.”
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