Brigham and Women’s Hospital administration and nurses met for negotiations Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid an indefinite strike set for 7 a.m. Thursday as round after round fail to reach an agreement.
Over 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association are set to walk out on strike Thursday morning.
Both sides have been at odds over contract negotiations for 11 months and 28 bargaining sessions, through a one-day strike and four-day lockout in July, and an initial indefinite strike authorization in October. The October strike was averted when the union agreed to review the hospital’s “last, best and final” offer, which nurses ultimately voted down.
The MNA and hospital bargaining teams met at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, and continued bargaining well through the evening.
Among the outstanding issues this week, the nurses union listed limits on temporary nurse usage, a “float differential that helps limit nurses from having to move from patient assignment to patient assignment,” movement on health insurance, and wage scale issues.
BWH said they’d met with the union and federal mediators for over 15 hours during their last session Monday.
“The remaining issues at the bargaining table relate to compensation and benefits, including wages and health insurance,” a BWH spokesperson said. “No patient or workplace safety proposals remain unresolved.”
In their advisory Wednesday, the hospital administration restated claims that the “Brigham nurses would not receive a 0% raise in this contract offer.”
Their offer “provides increases to base wages for all Brigham nurses” and “no increase in the health insurance premium contribution percentage for current Brigham nurses enrolled in the post-tax medical plan,” BWH stated.
Though the nurses faced a lockout in the July strike due to stipulations in temporary nurses contracts, the union spokesperson said there will not be a lockout period involved in this work stoppage.
“If they go out, nurses will remain out on strike until an agreement is reached,” an MNA spokesperson said Wednesday.
The MNA said “if a strike becomes necessary, we have coordinated support for nurses, including assistance accessing unemployment benefits, health insurance options and additional resources.”
“We all want what is best for our entire bargaining unit, our professional practice, and our patients,” the union posted in a message to members. “As we move forward, our unity is critical. We will come through this time of testing more resilient and stronger, understanding that what we do now matters for our future.”
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Advisories for Brigham and Women’s patients
Brigham and Women’s Hospital released preparations ahead of the strike, notifying patients to “anticipate large crowds and increased traffic near picketing locations and allow extra time when traveling to and from campus or offsite locations.”
At ambulatory sites, procedural areas will adjust start times to 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The Mass General Brigham Foxborough Day Surgery Unit will open at 9 a.m. Thursday and adjust to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. beginning Friday for the strike duration.
Operations and business hours at all other ambulatory clinics and regional sites will not change, the hospital said.
The hospital was onboarding over 800 temporary nurses, and many were involved during the July strike, BWH said.
BWH added, “There are robust continuity plans in place to ensure we continue to provide safe patient care and maintain a safe work environment during the strike, including support from highly-trained agency nurses with the required education and licensure, who are completing appropriate training.”
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