Brigham and Girls’s nurses voted to schedule a one-day strike if union contract calls for aren’t met in upcoming negotiations, the Massachusetts Nurses Affiliation introduced.
“We do not want to have to strike but are prepared to act if MGB executives keep putting patient safety at risk by not investing in our nursing workforce,” stated Kelly Morgan, a Brigham labor and supply nurse and MNA Chair for the hospital. “We cannot continue caring for patients under these conditions, and the hospital cannot operate without its nurses.”
The nurses voted to authorize the strike by over 99% on Wednesday, 2,507 to 16, MNA reported. The vote comes after 28 bargaining classes over 10 months and negotiating with a federal mediator since Could.
The nurses are required to supply a minimum of 10 days discover for a strike, and the strike will solely happen if a deal cannot be reached earlier than the scheduled motion.
Brigham and Girls’s Faulkner Hospital nurses will even vote Thursday whether or not or to not authorize a someday strike. Faulkner nurses are searching for wage parity with the opposite Brigham nurses, MNA stated in a launch, to deal with longstanding staffing and issues of safety.
Brigham and Girls’s nurse and secretary of the bargaining committee Sarah Bessuille stated the nurses are engaged on among the sickest sufferers within the nation and in a surroundings with mildew, mice and cockroaches and “just want to feel supported.”
“There’s a myriad of reasons, but mostly they want a safe working environment,” Bessuile stated of the nurses coming in to vote . “They don’t want to feel harassed or afraid to come into work. Obviously, we all want to get paid well and have great benefits. But it’s more so, the respect from the hospital.”
A spokesperson for Brigham and Girls’s Hospital stated the hospital is “positioned to continue to provide the same high-quality care that patients expect” if a strike takes place.
“We made progress, reached tentative agreements on several issues, including workplace safety, and feel confident that we proposed a fair and equitable contract,” Brigham and Girls’s Hospital stated in an announcement. “Our focus remains on supporting our nurses while providing high-quality, safe care for our patients.”
MNA listed improved staffing and affected person care, medical insurance alternative and truthful wage will increase among the many Brigham nurses’ priorities. The union additionally cited excessive income on the hospital system, together with the Mass Common Brigham CEO Anne Klibanski’s latest wage improve from $4.3 million in 2020 to over $5 million in 2021.
“It’s been almost a year at this point,” stated Bessuile. “And we all just want to go back to our lives, spend time with our patients, our families, not take time off of work to argue about what we deserve.”
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