Brigham and Women's Hospital: Statement on MNA Negotiations

Statement of Brigham and Women's Hospital

"During our 27th bargaining session with the MNA, the hospital made significant movement on several of the union's priorities and presented its last, best and final offer in an effort to reach agreement. The hospital believes its final proposal reflects the value our nurses bring to patient care while balancing our responsibility to patients, our workforce, and the long-term strength of the hospital. We are thankful the MNA has pulled its indefinite strike notice and will allow its members to vote on the hospital's final offer."

Message to all Brigham nurses:

Dear Colleagues,

‌I'm pleased to share that, after 13 hours of negotiations with the MNA bargaining committee today, we reached an important milestone. We presented our last, best and final offer on the remaining issues of wages and health insurance, and the MNA has agreed to withdraw its indefinite strike notice and bring the hospital's offer to its members for a vote.

We made every effort to find common ground and narrow the remaining differences. We are encouraged that our nurses will now have the opportunity to review and vote on the hospital's final offer.

• Duration: The contract would be in place from ratification through Sept. 30, 2028.

• Wages: Our proposal ensures that all nurses would receive an increase to their base salary for both years of the contract.

  • Year 1: Effective upon ratification, the hospital would add a new 2.5% top step to all scales (staff nurse, nurse in charge, midwife, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, staff education instructor and nurse anesthetist)
  • Year 2: Effective Sept. 30, 2027, the hospital would add another 2.5% top step for all scales.
  • Health insurance: Our offer adds an employee contribution of 2.5% (approximately $10 per week) only for nurses hired into 40-hour positions after ratification who elect individual coverage in the post-tax plan. There would be no increase to the employee premium share for nurses who currently are regularly scheduled for 40 hours while they remain in that position, nor would there be an increase to the employee premium share for any nurse enrolled in the post-tax plan.

Floating, Agency Nurse and Cancelation Proposals

We made progress earlier in the session after a productive dialogue that resulted in resolution of three of the union's priorities.

• Floating and agency nurse proposals: To achieve our goals of reducing traveler usage and the need for staff to float, we agreed to post 20 36-hour positions for the Float Pool within 60 days after ratification of the contract.

  • We would track the amount of floating into and out of each unit throughout 2027, as well as the amount of agency nurses working in each unit, including locums and the MGB Internal Resource Pool.
  • ‌The hospital would provide this data to the MNA quarterly and would meet in late July 2027 to review it.
  • Beginning in 2027, the hospital would notify the MNA if an agency nurse, locum or traveler, including the MGB Internal Resource Pool, works at the hospital for more than six months in a calendar year.

• Cancelation: In response to the MNA's proposal, we agreed that when canceling any extra shift or overtime shift for a regularly scheduled nurse, the hospital would provide at least one hour and 45 minutes notice before the start of the shift or the nurse would be paid $70. This does not apply when the canceled shift follows a regularly scheduled shift, in which case the hospital would provide notice of cancelation before the start of the extra or overtime shift.

I will keep you updated about any next steps or additional news.

Thank you,

Julia Mason, DNP, MBA, RN, CENP
Senior Vice President, Patient Care Services
Chief Nursing Officer
Beth V. Martignetti Endowed Chair in Nursing
Brigham and Women's Hospital