4,000 Brigham and Women's nurses 'overwhelmingly' vote to authorize open-ended strike
About 4,000 registered nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston voted "overwhelmingly" on Thursday to authorize an open-ended strike.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), which represents the nurses, said this could be the largest open-ended registered nurse (RN) strike in state history.
No strike date has been set yet. Before it occurs, the nurses will be legally required to give 10 days' notice. If the strike is held, it would continue until the nurses reach a contract agreement with the hospital.
Nurses say they are seeking a fair contract that will protect patient care, strengthen the workforce and provide affordable health insurance.
"[Mass General Brigham] cannot tell nurses to choose between the care our patients deserve, affordable health insurance, or fair cost-of-living wage increase," Jim McCarthy, RN, a nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit and vice chair of the BWH MNA Bargaining Committee, said in a statement.
The statement went on, "We have offered to negotiate and work toward an agreement, but CEO Anne Klibanski, who makes $9.2 million a year, and the billionaires on MGB's Board of Directors, have refused to bargain. Our vote gives nurses the power to push back hard if the MGB billionaires keep putting corporate greed over safe patient care."
Among the nurses' proposals are limiting the hospital's use of temporary nurses, fair compensation including a cost-of-living increase and affordable health insurance with plan choice.
In July, BWH nurses held a one-day strike. Since then, the nurses say the hospital has refused to "meaningfully negotiate."
MNA said that the hospital told nurses in August it was not willing to negotiate unless significant changes were made to the latest proposal.
"Brigham nurses have made clear that we are prepared to stay on strike for as long as it takes to win a contract that protects our patients and respects the nurses who care for them," Kelly Morgan, RN, a labor and delivery nurse and chair of the BWH MNA Bargaining Committee, said in a statement.
"An open-ended strike is a serious step that will undoubtedly create a healthcare crisis in Massachusetts. MGB can prevent the strike by returning to the table and negotiating the contract our nurses need to keep providing world-class care," the statement continued.
BWH did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.
