Roughly 4,000 nurses at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital are set to walk off the job in an open-ended strike beginning October 14, after the Massachusetts Nurses Association filed the legally required 10-day notice on October 2. The union says it would be the largest open-ended registered-nurse strike in Massachusetts history.
It is a sharp escalation. In July, the same nurses held a one-day awareness strike — the first in the hospital's history — and were then locked out for four additional days before returning without a contract. This time there is no end date: the walkout continues until an agreement is reached.
Nurses authorized the action on September 24 by 93 per cent, with 2,986 voting yes to 215 no — the most nurses ever to back a strike authorization in the state, the union says. The core issues remain limits on the use of temporary travel nurses, affordable health insurance with meaningful plan choice, fair pay for nurses required to float between units, and a cost-of-living raise.
The union has framed the action as an unfair labour practice strike, citing federal labour complaints filed against the hospital since July. Talks remain stalled, and patients, families and the hospital are bracing for a disruption with no scheduled end.
