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WE VOTED TO STRIKE!!!
The solidarity of Brigham nurses is powerful. Today thousands of nurses turned out to vote, from as far away as Vermont and Maine. The vote results were overwhelmingly in favor of a one-day strike — 2,507 yes to 16 no (99.37% yes!). Hospital management will hear us loud and clear. We need competitive wages, improved differentials, and better health insurance to attract and retain nurses. Every day we must deal with unsafe staffing, a hazardous environment, and the threat of violence while taking care of incredibly complex patient care needs. Management must do better. On August 8, backed by the strength of this strike vote, we will demand better. As your elected MNA representatives, we are extremely proud of your unity and dedication to your patients.
MANAGEMENT
REJECTED OUR SETTLEMENT OFFER
Today we gave management an
off-the-record package that responded to their concerns about the cost of our
proposed differentials. We believe our package was completely reasonable. It
maintained our previous wage and health insurance proposals but made significant
economic movement in other areas to encourage a contract settlement. We told
management if they rejected our package, we would take our strike vote. Management
did not accept our offer, and instead increased their last proposal by just 0.5%
ATB overall, agreed to increase the charge differential to $4.00 per hour, and
dropped their proposed premium increase for 40-hour nurses on MNA insurance.
They refused to move in any other way on wages, differentials, or health
insurance choice.
An
“Honor Roll” Hospital that Refuses to Invest in Nurses
On the same day management
refused to provide a fair contract to nurses on the verge of taking a strike
vote, Brigham and Women’s Hospital won major accolades in U.S. News and World
Report. The hospital is on the 2024 U.S. News “Best Hospitals” honor roll,
received 1st place nationally for obstetrics and gynecology, as well
as #2 in diabetes and endocrinology, #4 in cancer with Dana-Farber, #4 in rheumatology,
and #8 in urology.
In FY2022, the Chair of Brigham OB/GYN, received a
$491,123 bonus. We wonder what she and other executives will get this year?
We’re guessing it will be even more than the $5+ million in bonuses they gave
executives in 2022. MGB pays executives enormous amounts to poorly manage
hospital operations, while forcing nurses to fight for a competitive wage even
though we provide the patient care that drives accolades and financial success.
Our next negotiation session is August 8.