4,000 Brigham Nurses Set Open-Ended Strike for Nov. 12 as Talks Resume Nov. 9

The Brigham nurses strike now has a start date. The Massachusetts Nurses Association delivered a 10-day notice on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, saying more than 4,000 registered nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston will walk off the job at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, and stay out with no set end date unless a contract is reached first.

4,000+ nurses covered · 7 a.m. Nov. 12 planned walkout · Nov. 9 next bargaining session · 27 sessions held before the latest offer

WBUR reported that a walkout of that size would be the largest strike in Massachusetts history. The union’s own announcement calls it the largest open-ended strike the state has seen. Either way, it would be a sharp escalation from July, when the same nurses held a one-day strike and the hospital answered with a four-day lockout, according to WBUR.

What happens between now and Nov. 12

State law requires health care unions to give 10 days’ notice before a strike, which is why the clock started on Sunday. Both sides are due back at the bargaining table on Monday, Nov. 9, three days before the planned walkout, with a federal mediator, according to NBC10 Boston. The nurses had first set a strike for Oct. 14 but pushed it back when the hospital presented its latest offer, NBC10 reported. The hospital said it will share an update after that session.

Brigham and Women’s said in a written statement that it had hoped to avoid another strike but is “prepared to continue providing safe, high-quality care throughout any work stoppage, building on our experience and extensive contingency planning.” The hospital did not detail its staffing plan in the statement.

Neither side’s statement addressed scheduled appointments or procedures after Nov. 12. The hospital is part of Mass General Brigham, which NBC10 Boston describes as the largest health system in Massachusetts and which has faced other workforce changes this fall, including the layoffs in several clinical programs we reported last month.

Where the contract talks stand

The notice follows the nurses’ Oct. 23 vote to reject what Mass General Brigham called its “last, best and final” offer, a result covered in our earlier report on the contract vote. That offer was presented on Oct. 10 after 27 negotiating sessions over 11 months, including an 11-hour session on Oct. 8 and a 13-hour session on Oct. 10, according to the hospital.

Under the rejected proposal, as described by the hospital:

• Nurses still moving up the pay scale would keep the existing step structure, which carries 5% increases per step.
• Nurses already at the top of their scale would get a new 2.5% top step, once after ratification and again after Sept. 30, 2027.
• The hospital would post 20 additional 36-hour Float Pool positions within 60 days of ratification.
• A professional development reimbursement fund would rise to $1 million per fiscal year.
• Premium contribution percentages would stay the same for current nurses in the post-tax medical plan; nurses hired after ratification into 40-hour roles who choose individual post-tax coverage would pay 2.5%.
• The contract would run until Sept. 30, 2028.

The hospital says it spends nearly $750 million a year on nursing pay and benefits and that “no patient or workplace safety proposals remain unresolved,” leaving wages and health insurance as the open issues.

The union frames the gap more broadly. Its announcement lists four demands: limits on the use of temporary nurses, a float differential to reduce how often nurses are moved between assignments, insurance choice for staff, and a wage scale it calls competitive for both new and experienced nurses.

What each side is saying

“We are ready to strike but are equally prepared to negotiate a fair contract that protects patient care, respects nurses, and averts the strike,” Kelly Morgan, a labor and delivery nurse who chairs the union’s bargaining committee, said in the MNA announcement. Jim McCarthy, a PACU nurse and the committee’s vice chair, said in the same release: “We question why this non-profit healthcare organization would pour millions into another strike instead of investing in patient care.”

The union also pointed to Mass General Brigham’s finances, citing reported profits of more than $2.3 billion and nearly $2 billion in expansion spending at Massachusetts General Hospital. It noted that a law firm hired by the MNA has asked the state attorney general to review the system’s nonprofit status, a letter first reported by The Boston Globe on Oct. 6.

The hospital, for its part, says its offer “provides market-leading compensation and competitive benefits while recognizing our responsibility to our patients, our entire workforce and the long-term financial sustainability” of the hospital, and that it “deeply value[s] and respect[s]” its nurses.

The Nov. 9 session is the last scheduled chance to settle before the deadline. We will update this story with the outcome, and our latest Boston news page will carry any changes to hospital services.

Sources

• WBUR: Brigham nurses plan open-ended strike starting Nov. 12, amid ongoing contract fight
• Massachusetts Nurses Association: Brigham nurses issue notice for open-ended strike beginning Nov. 12
• Mass General Brigham: Brigham and Women’s Hospital nursing union update, Nov. 1
• NBC10 Boston: Brigham and Women’s nurses announce strike plan