A NEGOTIATING STALEMATE BETWEEN Mass General Brigham and thousands of nurses and home care clinicians spilled into Gov. Maura Healey’s office Monday, as she pushed for a compromise ahead of a historic strike this week.
More than 4,000 registered nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital intend to go on a one-day strike Wednesday, following months of unsuccessful collective bargaining efforts to seek cost-of-living increases, affordable health insurance, limits on the use of temporary travel nurses and protections around patient care, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
Also Wednesday, 450 MGB home care clinicians — who are negotiating their first union contract after joining the MNA in June 2024 — are planning to start a seven-day strike, according to the union.
Without a resolution, Wednesday’s actions would mark the largest nurse and health care professional strike in state history, the MNA said. It also underlines gnawing workforce challenges among nurses, with many considering leaving their jobs over burnout, ballooning patient caseloads, insufficient time to provide quality care and workplace violence.
Healey held a meeting Monday afternoon with leaders from MGB and MNA, though no bargaining committee members attended, an MNA spokesperson told the News Service on Tuesday. Those in the corner office included MGB Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Niyum Gandhi, MGB Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Laura Peabody, MNA Executive Director Joe-Ann Fergus, MNA Associate Director of Labor Aaron Cerny who represents home care clinicians, and MNA Associate Director of Labor Sharanya Sridhar who represents Brigham nurses.
The governor had no public events Monday. Healey spokesperson Jacqueline Manning said the governor “has met with both parties to urge them to remain at the bargaining table and continue working toward an agreement.”
“The Governor is focused on protecting patients, supporting the health care workforce, and avoiding disruptions to care,” Manning said Tuesday. “She urges both sides to continuing negotiating in good faith and reach a resolution as quickly as possible.”
At a July 2 bargaining session, the MNA said MGB representatives were “unwilling to move off their 0 percent cost of living wage proposal, despite the looming strike.” The MNA has circulated the hefty compensation amounts for MGB executives, saying the top 14 leaders received a combined $35.9 million in fiscal 2024.
“Our 4,000 Brigham nurses are ready to negotiate to avoid a strike, but MGB has told us at the bargaining table they are not willing to move off their insulting 0 percent offer or engage on other key issues like health insurance and limiting temporary staff,” Kelly Morgan, a nurse and chair of the Brigham MNA Bargaining Committee, said. “MGB’s position is completely disrespectful to Brigham nurses who care for patients under extremely challenging and unsafe conditions.”
MGB spokesperson Jessica Pastore said the system is available to “continue bargaining in good faith.”
“We’ve submitted a lengthy proposal and continue to wait on the MNA’s response,” Pastore said. “Our proposal preserves the 5% annual pay increases nurses receive as they move through the wage scale and builds on approximately 55 percent average growth in Brigham nurse wages over the past five years. We believe it appropriately recognizes our nurses’ important contributions while balancing our responsibility to sustain patient care and our broader mission for the long term.”
An MGB fact sheet emphasizes the lingering issues at the bargaining table are tied to “wages and economics” and that there are “NO patient safety or workplace safety proposals at the table.” The sheet attributes the lack of an agreement to MGB “navigating significant financial pressures” and says “any agreement must be sustainable over time and support our ability to continue to invest in all roles across our workforce.”
In a June 10 letter to staff, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Julia Mason said the one-day strike would turn into a five-day work stoppage. The hospital would need to deploy “emergency preparedness plans,” which involves contracting with temporary nurses for at least five days, according to the letter shared with the News Service.
Bargaining unit members cannot work during that time period, and they would not receive regular pay, Mason said. In a statement, the hospital said it’s “fully prepared to continue providing high-quality patient care throughout a work stoppage.”
The home care clinicians going on strike include registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, social workers and dieticians. They’re seeking “reasonable” caseload limits, “clear and transparent” productivity standards, and competitive wages, according to the MNA.
“Our 450 MGB Home Care clinicians have done everything possible to reach a fair first contract without a strike,” said Shannon Viera, a nurse and chair of the MGB Home Care MNA Bargaining Committee. “We appreciate Governor Healey’s convening this meeting but, unfortunately, we do not see a willingness by MGB to negotiate toward a settlement before our strike.”
Across 30 negotiation sessions, Pastore said MGB and the home care clinicians have reached more than 20 “tentative” agreements on policy provisions. She said MGB has also proposed changes for overtime, “enhanced” on-call pay, and “new or improved” pay scales.
“We believe our offer recognizes the essential contributions of our Home Care clinicians as valued members of our care teams, offering highly competitive pay that maintains their position at the top of the local market,” Pastore said.
She said clinicians are prepared to ensure continuity of care for patients.
“We will triage patients to ensure the most acute needs continue by these temporary clinicians,” Pastore said. “Some ancillary services, such as dietician and speech language therapy appointments, will be paused.”
The strike at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (75 Francis St. in Boston) is slated to start at 7 a.m. Wednesday, followed by a rally at noon. The MNA says the primary media location for the home care strike, which starts at 8 a.m., will be at Braintree Hill Office Park (45 Rockdale St. in Braintree).
