Brigham and Women's Hospital prepared for potential nursing strike

Reader note: "Following the posting of this press release, after hours of negotiations, Brigham and Women's Hospital and the MNA reached an important milestone during the 27th bargaining session held on October 10. The MNA agreed to withdraw its Oct. 14 strike notice and bring the hospital's final offer to its members for a ratification vote. While we have not yet reached a final contract agreement, this means there will not be a strike on Wednesday, Oct. 14."

Brigham and Women’s Hospital is prepared to continue delivering safe, high-quality care during a potential indefinite strike by BWH nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following the union’s strike notice.

What to know for Oct. 10-11

Patient care

• Patient care remains our highest priority. Brigham and Women's Hospital will stay open and ready to care for patients during a strike. Skilled, experienced nurses will fill in and join our existing care teams. Many of these nurses provided care during the July work stoppage and are familiar with our healthcare system.
• The strike is at Brigham and Women's Hospital and NOT at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital or other MGB sites such as Massachusetts General Hospital.
• BWH patients should arrive to their scheduled appointment unless they hear otherwise from our provider, and they should expect extra traffic around the hospital beginning Oct. 14.
• We continue to coordinate with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Negotiations

• The hospital and the MNA met for more than 11 hours on Oct. 8 but did not reach an agreement. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, and will be attended by our full bargaining team.
• During the Oct. 8 session, BWH made significant movement in response to the union's priorities, including updated proposals on health insurance, agency nurses and two alternative wage options. Late in the session, the hospital presented the last on-the-record proposal, and the union did not respond with a counterproposal. The hospital offered to remain at the bargaining table further into the night to try to reach agreement but the union declined this option. While the union has publicly described its latest proposal as a significant compromise, it did not sufficiently narrow the gap.
• The remaining issues at the bargaining table are economic, including wages, health insurance, differentials and the use of agency nurses. The MNA has filed unfair labor practice allegations, but those allegations are meritless and have not been proven or upheld through the legal process.

Wages

• We have made a fair and competitive proposal that preserves the current 20-step wage scale, provides continued annual increases of 5% for nurses progressing through the scale, and includes additional increases or bonuses of 2.5% for nurses already at the top step.
• Despite union claims, they do not receive a 0% raise.
• Brigham nurses are already among the highest-paid nurses locally, statewide, and nationally.
• Eleven BWH staff nurses in the MNA bargaining unit made more than $300,000 in 2025 and hundreds more staff nurses made more than $200,000. Nurses deserve to be compensated for their life-saving work. At the same time, annual increases in compensation must be considered in the context of the organization’s need to support its entire patient-centered mission.