Agreement reached between Brigham and Women's Hospital and MNA

Statement of Brigham and Women's Hospital

"During our 27th bargaining session with the MNA, the hospital made significant movement on several of the union's priorities and presented its last, best and final offer in an effort to reach agreement. The hospital believes its final proposal reflects the value our nurses bring to patient care while balancing our responsibility to patients, our workforce, and the long-term strength of the hospital. We are thankful the MNA has pulled its indefinite strike notice and will allow its members to vote on the hospital's final offer."

As the contract process with the BWH MNA continues, we will share regular, factual updates to ensure you have clear, accurate information about the pending indefinite strike.

Dear Colleagues,

After 11 hours of negotiations on Thursday and an additional 13 hours of negotiations on Saturday, Brigham and Women's Hospital and the MNA reached an important milestone. 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 and hospital, ambulatory and clinical operations are expected to continue as normal.

We know many of you have questions about what this means and what happens next.

You may be wondering: Is the contract finalized?

Fact: Not yet. During Saturday's bargaining session, the hospital presented its last, best and final offer. The offer reflects significant movement on several of the union's priorities while maintaining a responsible approach to supporting nurses, patients and the long-term strength of the hospital. We are pleased that our offer maintains the existing nursing wage progression system, including annual 5% step increases until nurses reach 20 years of service. The hospital's final offer adds two new 2.5% top steps over two years of the contract for the most tenured nurses. Throughout negotiations, we remained focused on supporting nurses while avoiding commitments that would not be financially sustainable and could undermine our ability to invest in patient care, support employees and meet the needs of the communities we serve. Nursing pay at the Brigham remains highly competitive and market-leading, providing compensation that exceeds that of 90% of nurses in the city, region, and country. Late in the session last night, the MNA agreed to withdraw its strike notice and bring the hospital's final offer to its members for a ratification vote. The contract will not be finalized unless and until it is approved by nurses in the bargaining unit.

You might be wondering: Does this mean the MNA can still call a strike at any time?

Fact: Similar to before, if nurses do not vote to approve the hospital's final offer and the union ultimately decides to pursue a strike, the MNA would need to provide the hospital with a new 10-day strike notice before a strike could occur.

You might be wondering: Will the temporary nurses still come to the Brigham?

Fact: No. Because the strike that was scheduled to begin Wednesday has been canceled, the hospital will not implement the contingency staffing plans that had been developed for a potential indefinite strike.

You might be wondering: Why did the hospital spend so much time preparing if there won't be a strike?

Fact: With an indefinite strike notice in effect, the hospital had a responsibility to prepare for all possible outcomes. Those preparations were necessary to ensure we could continue providing safe, uninterrupted care to our patients under any circumstance. Throughout this process, we have had to balance two equally important responsibilities: continuing to negotiate in good faith and ensuring we were prepared to provide safe, uninterrupted care if a strike occurred.

You might be wondering: When will the MNA vote on the hospital's offer?

Fact: The MNA must now schedule a ratification vote for nurses in the bargaining unit and will communicate details of that process directly to its members. As of now, a vote date has not been announced. We will continue to share updates with the Brigham community as we learn more.

We are grateful to the many clinicians, leaders, operational teams and staff members from BWH and across all of MGB who contributed to these efforts over the past several weeks. From negotiations and operational planning to staffing, scheduling and patient care preparation, employees across Mass General Brigham worked tirelessly to ensure that the hospital and our system were fully prepared for every possible outcome.

We deeply value our nurses and are encouraged by this important step forward. This effort reflected a shared commitment to our mission and to the patients and families who depend on us. Thank you.

We will continue to keep you updated and answer your questions throughout this process.

Sincerely,

Ron M. Walls, MD
Chief Operating Officer
Mass General Brigham

Laura S. Peabody
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
Mass General Brigham

Mary Ellen Schopp
Chief Human Resources Officer
Mass General Brigham