About 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have postponed an indefinite strike that was set to begin Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts Nurses Association said late Saturday.
The union said members will instead vote on a contract proposal it describes as the hospital system's final offer. The association has criticized Mass General Brigham for not providing cost-of-living wage increases, arguing the approach puts patients and the community at risk — a characterization the hospital system has disputed in the wider dispute.
Postponing the walkout keeps normal staffing in place at one of the United States' best-known teaching hospitals while the vote is organized, avoiding the service disruption a Wednesday strike would have caused across the Longwood medical area.
No vote date was announced in the union's late-Saturday statement. The outcome will decide whether the postponed strike is revived or a new contract is ratified.
