BOSTON (WHDH) - Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston voted Wednesday to authorize a one-day strike, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
Just over 2,500 nurses voted “yes” to the strike as they negotiate a contract to address the hospital’s “ongoing failure to recruit and retain the nurses necessary for safe patient care and quality working conditions,” the union said in a statement.
The nurses are fighting for improved staffing and patient care, better health insurance options, and a fair and market-competitive wage increase, the union said.
“It’s really frustrating to come to work every day and to not feel fully valued or respected and the care that you provide to these patients every day, in and out, with not enough staffing, not enough equipment, not enough resources that you need to help take care of the patients,” one nurse said.
“The patients deserve and expect that when they come into this hospital, you’re coming to a top 10 hospital in the world to receive your care and you shouldn’t have to worry,” she continued.
Union officials said that so far, there have been 28 bargaining sessions over the last 10 months. However, the vote does not mean a strike will automatically happen, the union said. The association’s bargaining committee will schedule a strike if necessary, based on how negotiations go.
If a strike is scheduled, the committee will have to provide at least 10 days’ notice.
“Workplace violence unfortunately is an issue that a lot of our nurses deal with. We, on a day-to-day basis are assaulted physically, verbally, and the MNA is working hard to pass legislation to create stricter penalties for people who assault healthcare workers, but on the day-to-day, we need stronger security presence,” another nurse said.
The nurses also said neighboring hospitals pay better wages so Brigham and Women’s is losing good nurses.
Nurses from Brigham and Women’s Faulkner in Jamaica Plain will vote on a one-day strike on Thursday. The next bargaining meeting is set for Aug. 8.
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