Largest nurses strike in state history authorized
About 3,300 nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Monday voted to authorize what would be the largest nurses strike in Massachusetts history and the first nurses strike in Boston in more than 20 years, their union announced.
With 95 percent of the registered nurses who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association voting to authorize a one-day strike, the union and the hospital are closer to a strike that the vice chair of the union bargaining unit said would render the Brigham "inoperable."
"They are taking a stand for the Brigham Way, for nursing excellence and safe patient care," Trish Powers, chair of the MNA bargaining unit, said in a statement. "When a corporation makes billions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of millions in profits, there is no reason why it should reduce nurse staffing, impact the quality of care for our patients and reduce nurse benefits."
At issue between the union, the hospital and Partners HealthCare is a new contract for the 3,300 MNA nurses at Brigham and Women's. The MNA says it is "fighting corporate greed and standing up for their patients and profession," but the hospital says it has proposed a contract that is "fair, competitive, market-based and in line with operational and budgetary constraints."
Both sides say they have held 19 bargaining sessions to reach an agreement on a new contract, most recently on June 1. The nurses' last contract expired Sept. 30, according to the union.
Now that the union membership has authorized the strike, its bargaining unit must set a date for the one-day strike and give the hospital at least 10 days notice. The earliest the strike could take place is June 24, according to the hospital.
"We sincerely hope that we can reach a fair and reasonable contract and avoid a strike," Dr. Ron Walls, executive vice president and CEO of Brigham and Women's Health Care, said in a statement. "Our focus, however, remains on providing safe, high-quality care to our patients, and we will be ready to do so should a strike occur."
The hospital this month activated its Strike Planning Incident Command Structure to develop "a detailed operational and tactical plan to manage a strike, including contracting experienced nurses through a highly-reputable agency," the hospital said in a statement.
If the nurses go on strike, the hospital said, it would hire 700 temporary professional nurses to replace them for the duration of the strike.
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