Boston Nurses Reject Hospital’s Pay Offer

More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have voted down the hospital’s pay offer. The employer had called it its “last, best and final” offer.

The vote took place Oct. 22 and 23. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the nurses’ union, announced the result on Friday. The nurses say they are fighting for patient safety and respect for their work. They are calling on the hospital, part of Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in the state, to return to the bargaining table as early as next week.

The hospital says it is disappointed by the outcome. It stresses that its nurses are among the best paid in the region and the country, and that they receive raises every year. It also says patients will continue to be treated without interruption.

The dispute has dragged on for months. In July, the nurses went on strike for one day, and the hospital kept them out of work for four more days because it had signed contracts with temporary workers. To hold the vote, the union recently postponed an open-ended strike it had announced. It would have been the largest such nurses’ strike in Massachusetts history. The union has not yet said whether it will return to the strike plan.

Source: CBS Boston, Massachusetts Nurses Association

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