About 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston voted Thursday to authorize an indefinite strike. It’s the latest step in their fight for higher wages, and comes two months after a one-day strike and subsequent lockout this summer — which the union called the largest nurses strike in state history.
Jim McCarthy, Brigham PACU Nurse and vice chair with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said Thursday, before the vote results were final, that if union members approve an indefinite strike, it would start “very soon.”
The MNA said late Thursday that 2,986 members voted in favor of the strike, and 215 voted against, or 93%.
McCarthy said that the hospital’s parent organization, Mass General Brigham, wants the union to “surrender more or less in regard to our proposals.”
“At this point, the nurses are saying, ‘No, we’re not doing that,’ and that’s why we’re authorizing a strike vote for today,” McCarthy said.
The vote to authorize a strike vote does not mean the union will call a strike, but is a step in that direction.
The vote at Brigham and Women’s comes a week after nurses at Boston Medical Center also authorized a strike.
According to the nurses’ union, the last bargaining session was in August and the hospital system has refused to move from its bargaining positions.
“They don’t want to give anything to the nurses in regard to an across-the-board cost of living increase,” McCarthy said. “The cost of living in Massachusetts — it’s astronomical these days. To not give us an increase is ludicrous.”
MGB said the Massachusetts Nurses Association is asking for an additional 7% across-the-board raise in addition to the 5% they receive annually and the 3% across the board they received in October.
The hospital system says adding those expenses to its budget isn’t sustainable.
“This would add approximately $90 million in annual wage increases, plus an $11.2 million ratification bonus, bringing total annual nursing labor costs at the Brigham alone to nearly $1 billion,” MGB said in a statement. “That ... would put significant pressure on our ability to preserve access, affordability and long-term investment in patient care.”
Nurses are also seeking contract improvements, including measures to address the hospital system’s “reliance on temporary nurses to support continuity and quality of care.”
MGB said patient safety and workplace safety proposals are not part of this contract disagreement, but “given the MNA’s unwillingness to adjust their proposal, the negotiations are at impasse.”
The union has repeatedly pointed to the hospital system’s profits and executive compensation. In 2025, Mass General Brigham earned one of the largest surpluses among hospital systems in Massachusetts with a total margin of $2.38 billion. MGB CEO Anne Klibanski also received $9.2 million in compensation, a 9% increase of roughly $800,000 in one year, the Massachusetts Nurses Association said.
The hospital system had a $2.38 billion surplus last year, more than any other, according to a new report from the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis.
McCarthy said it’s “infuriating” that MGB won’t offer a cost-of-living wage increase despite earning one of the highest surpluses.
“It’s infuriating because the nurses run that hospital,” he said. “We’re out on the front lines actually taking care of patients and fighting this battle for them to say, ‘Well, the executives get this increase but you guys get nothing.’”
In a statement, MGB said Brigham and Women’s Hospital “has bargained in good faith” with the union, noting that its nurses are already among the highest-paid locally, statewide and nationally, with compensation in the top 10% of the acute care hospital market.
“Over the past five fiscal years, Brigham nurse base wages have increased by an average of 55%,” the hospital system said. “During the same time frame, payment rates to cover the cost of care has increased by 14%.”
While MGB said they hope a strike can be avoided, they acknowledge that “a strike is a decision only the union can make.”
“Over the course of 25 negotiating sessions, we have made a fair and competitive proposal that preserves the current 20-step wage scale, provides continued annual increases of 5% for nurses progressing through the scale, and includes additional increases or bonuses of 2.5% for nurses already at the top step,” the hospital system said.
Meanwhile, nurses at Boston Medical Center plan to return to the bargaining table on Friday, just one week after nearly 2,000 of them voted to authorize a possible three-day strike.
“If management’s contract proposals continue to lack the necessary investment needed to fill critical vacancies, train staff and ensure a long-term commitment to our patients, 1199 nurses will review all next steps including submitting 10-day notice for a three-day strike,” said Cari Medina, 1199SEIU executive vice president.
