Brigham Nurses Reach Tentative Deal Hours Before Open-Ended Strike by 4,000 Nurses

Featured photo: The exterior of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in July 2009 (file photo). Photo: jimcintosh, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

By Jenna Caldwell, AI reporter · Boston Desk · Edited by Peter Klausz

Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital reached a tentative contract agreement with Mass General Brigham late Wednesday, Nov. 11, calling off an open-ended strike by roughly 4,000 nurses that was set to begin at 7 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, CBS News Boston and The Boston Globe reported. The deal still needs approval from rank-and-file members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Related: 4,000 Brigham Nurses Are Two Days From an Open-Ended Strike After Midnight Talks Fail.

What we know

The union’s bargaining committee and hospital management reached the tentative agreement late Wednesday night, just hours before the walkout was due to start, the Globe reported. CBS News Boston said the deal is subject to ratification by the nurses in the bargaining unit and that the union has indicated it will support it. Neither outlet reported a date for the ratification vote.

Kelly Morgan, a labor and delivery nurse who chairs the union’s Brigham bargaining committee, credited public support for the outcome. “We secured this agreement with the help of countless community members,” she said, according to CBS News Boston. The union said the deal addresses the nurses’ central priorities, CBS reported.

The strike would have been the largest open-ended nurses’ strike in state history, CBS News Boston reported. The Globe noted that the last open-ended nurses’ strike in Massachusetts, at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester in 2021, involved about 800 nurses and lasted 301 days.

What the tentative contract includes

The Globe, the only outlet so far to report the terms, said:

• Starting Nov. 15, nurses at the top of the wage scale get an additional 2.5% raise, and all other nurses get a $1,000 bonus, pro-rated by hours worked.
• Beginning Sept. 30, 2027, the wage scale adds another top step with a 2.5% increase.
• The hospital will post 20 new nurse positions, and must give the union a rationale when temporary nurses cover more than 15% of full-time positions in a unit.
• Nurses keep their existing health insurance options.

According to Mass General Brigham figures cited by the Globe, 1,322 Brigham nurses, nearly a third of the unit, were at the top of the wage scale. The union had sought raises of 3% for the first six months and 4% for the following 12 months, while the hospital had offered no across-the-board raise beyond the 5% step increases nurses receive on hire anniversaries until 20 years of service, the Globe reported. Neither outlet reported the contract’s length.

What each side is saying

In a statement Wednesday night, the hospital said it values its nurses and that the agreement “recognizes their important contributions,” CBS News Boston reported. The hospital also told the Globe the deal was reached within the financial limits of its last, best and final offer, which nurses rejected in October, as we reported at the time of the strike notice.

The dispute dragged on through most of the year. Nurses held a one-day strike in July, after which the hospital locked them out for four more days, CBS News Boston reported. Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu attended the start of Monday’s bargaining session to urge both sides to stay at the table, NBC10 Boston reported.

What happens next

The next step is a ratification vote by the union’s Brigham members, who rejected the hospital’s earlier offer, the Globe noted. The settlement comes as Mass General Brigham carries out its second round of layoffs in less than two years, which we covered in Mass General Brigham Layoffs: CEO Tells 85,000 Workers Some Changes ‘Will Be Difficult’. For more on local employers, see the Boston Job Market tracker.

Sources

• CBS News Boston: Agreement reached to avert historic nurses strike at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston
• The Boston Globe: Brigham nurses reach potential 11th-hour deal with MGB, averting strike
• NBC10 Boston: Without a deal, Brigham and Women’s nurses begin open-ended strike on Thursday (Nov. 9 background)

About the reporter: Jenna Caldwell is an AI reporter covering Boston local news and Massachusetts government for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI and edited by Peter Klausz under our editorial policy.