Nurses made substantial changes in their proposals to reach a fair contract; Mass General Brigham made $2.3 billion in profits last year and paid its CEO $9.2 million
BOSTON, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) nurses entered negotiations on Thursday, October 8 prepared to compromise and hopeful they could reach a fair contract before their scheduled October 14 open-ended strike. As proposals went back and forth during more than 11 hours of talks, nurses believed they were making progress toward an agreement.
But Mass General Brigham (MGB) stopped making meaningful movement and ultimately refused to continue discussions, leaving a deal out of reach despite nurses’ substantial compromises. Nurses offered to continue negotiating on Friday and any time or day before the strike. MGB declined to meet Friday unless nurses agreed to their last proposal. We offered to meet any day and time before the strike.
Brigham nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), made multiple counterproposals addressing management’s concerns and significantly modifying their own positions. Nurses remained focused on finding common ground to protect patient care, strengthen the permanent nursing workforce and provide competitive wages and affordable health insurance with meaningful choice.
“The issues MGB raised over the last year during negotiations have not fallen on deaf ears. We came to the table ready to make a deal, and as we went back and forth, we believed we were making real progress,” said Kelly Morgan, RN, a labor and delivery nurse and Chair of the BWH MNA Bargaining Committee. “We listened to MGB’s concerns and made substantial compromises because we want to be inside the Brigham caring for our patients. We were ready to keep working toward an agreement, but MGB stopped moving and ended the talks.”
To reach a fair agreement and avert a strike, nurses:
- Withdrew proposals on on-call compensation and severance pay.
- Significantly reduced their wage proposal.
- Extended the proposed contract term from 18 months to two and a half years.
- Reduced the proposed float differential and narrowed which nurses would qualify.
- Increased the proposed limit on temporary traveler nurses from 10% to 15% per hospital unit.
- Moved toward management’s position on health insurance by accepting an increased employee contribution for new hires working 40 hours per week.
Despite these substantial compromises by nurses, MGB did not make meaningful movement.
Nurses are willing to negotiate further to avert the strike. If the strike is held, it will continue until Brigham nurses reach a fair contract agreement with MGB and resolve their Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges. This is a ULP strike as Brigham nurses have filed multiple ULPs against the hospital since July. ULP strikes offer greater protection for striking workers, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
- Nurses filed a ULP against BWH for illegally preventing neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses from exercising their federally protected right to participate in the Brigham nurses’ strike on July 8, 2026.
- Nurses filed a ULP against BWH for illegally retaliating against nurses for exercising their federally protected right to participate in the July strike by changing their schedules.
- Nurses filed a ULP against BWH for threatening disciplinary action against nurses if they did not remove their union buttons.
Brigham Nurses Are Fighting For
- A strong permanent nursing workforce. Nurses are seeking limits on MGB’s reliance on temporary nurses to support continuity and quality of care for Brigham patients.
- Affordable health insurance and meaningful plan choice. MGB has proposed increasing nurses’ health insurance costs. Nurses want coverage they and their families can afford and choice between insurance plans.
- Fair compensation. Nurses are seeking a meaningful cost-of-living wage increase and a differential for nurses required to float among units.
- Economic data showing that from 2020 to 2024, the income needed to maintain a middle-class standard of living for family in Massachusetts jumped nearly 50 percent, according to the MassINC Policy Center.
- Inflation in Massachusetts has remained high since 2024, according to a recent report.
- Brigham nurses are seeking wages aligned with the Boston hospital market across their entire wage scale. Tufts Medical Center and Boston Medical Center historically paid nurses less than Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Recent contract settlements at those hospitals have changed that relationship, with nurses at many comparable points on their wage scales now earning more than their Brigham counterparts, according to the MNA’s wage comparisons.
MGB Has Billions but Refuses to Agree to Fair Contracts
Mass General Brigham is the largest and wealthiest health system in New England. In fiscal year 2025, MGB reported:
- $22.8 billion in operating revenue.
- $2.39 billion in profits.
- $1.75 billion in investment income.
- $35.8 billion in total assets.
- Nearly $9.2 million in compensation for CEO Anne Klibanski, which is a 9% increase of approximately $800,000 in one year.
MGB’s Board of Directors includes billionaires, private equity executives and corporate CEOs, including individuals whose businesses intersect with the healthcare system. Read the MNA’s report on MGB’s wealth, power, and board conflicts. Should MGB be a non-profit?
- Scott Sperling, MGB Board Chair, is co-CEO of private equity giant THL Partners, which invests heavily in healthcare and technology.
- John Fish, Board Vice Chair, leads Suffolk Construction, which has received major MGB-related construction work, including MGB’s $465 million headquarters.
- Jonathan Kraft, Board Vice Chair, oversees the Kraft family’s multibillion-dollar business empire, including property at Patriot Place leased to MGB.
MGB’s enormous financial resources make clear that it can afford fair contracts that protect patients, maintain stable workforces and respect the professionals who deliver care.
Learn more at www.massnurses.org/MGB.
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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
