Nurses will vote on July 24 to authorize the MNA Bargaining Committee
to hold a one-day strike at Brigham and Women's Hospital if
executives refuse to agree to a fair contract that invests in
nurses to improve patient safety
BOSTON , July 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The nearly 4,000 Brigham and
Women's Hospital nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses
Association (MNA), will vote on July
24 to authorize a one-day strike as nurses negotiate a
contract and confront the hospital's increasing dysfunction and
failure to protect nurses and patients.
Following an informational picket in May and the participation
of a federal mediator in bargaining for three months, Brigham
nurses are preparing for a potential strike to ensure Mass General
Brigham (MGB) executives make adequate investments in their nursing
workforce. Executives must address unsustainable and unsafe working
conditions imperiling patient care and inflicting moral injury on
nurses who have put their health and safety on the line to provide
exceptional patient care.
"We take a strike at the Brigham extremely seriously," said
Kelly Morgan, a Brigham labor and
delivery nurse and BWH MNA Chair. "MGB executives have forced
the hand of Brigham nurses by taking advantage of our dedication to
our patients. We care for extremely sick and injured patients
without the right equipment, in crowded hallways, through mold and
insect infestations, and under the constant threat of violence. Yet
these executives – who pay themselves handsomely – refuse to
respect Brigham nurses enough to settle a fair contract."
"There are thousands of Brigham nurses knocking down our door to
vote for this strike because while they have been drowning trying
to care for their patients, management refuses to throw them a
lifeline," said Jim McCarthy, a
PACU nurse and BWH MNA Vice Chair. "Getting MGB executives to
fix problems that are harming patients and nurses has been
excruciating. Management refuses to listen to us, the bedside care
experts, and would rather pour millions into executive bonuses than
nurse retention and recruitment. Voting for this strike is about
much more than a contract, it is about the safety and well-being of
all Brigham patients and nurses."
Negotiations for a successor to the Brigham nurse contract that
expired September 30, 2023, have
lasted 10 months and 28 sessions. Voting will take place throughout
the day at two locations on July 24.
All MNA nurses at BWH are eligible to vote. If nurses authorize a
one-day strike, that does not mean a strike will automatically take
place. The BWH MNA Bargaining Committee will schedule a strike, if
necessary, based on how management proceeds in negotiations
following the vote. If a strike is scheduled, the committee must
provide at least 10 days' notice.
Nurses are Fighting for:
- Improved staffing and patient care.
- The strike vote comes amid negotiations for a new contract, but
the overall challenges faced by nurses are driving their
actions.
- In open meetings attended by 1,000+ nurses and in organizing
conversations with thousands more, Brigham nurses have expressed
grave concern over inadequate staffing levels and their impact on
patient safety.
- A competitive wage increase will help address widespread
understaffing which puts patients and nurses at risk.
- Health insurance choice.
- Brigham nurses are dissatisfied with MGB health insurance. Many
nurses are forced to use the insurance and experience long wait
times for appointments and imaging, as well as out-of-network
costs.
- Nurses have delivered a petition signed by more than 3,200
nurses demanding the option to change insurance plans during annual
enrollment.
- Management has refused to provide permanent choice and is
seeking to increase premiums for 40-hour nurses.
- As part of their advocacy, nurses launched a series of videos
expressing dissatisfaction with Mass General Brigham (MGB) health
insurance and demanding better choice:
https://www.massnurses.org/BrighamInsurance.
- A fair and market-competitive wage increase.
- BWH has historically been a leader in acute care hospital
wages.
- Recently, other hospitals have offered similar if not higher
wages, impacting BWH's ability to recruit and retain nurses.
- Management refuses to even match the recent wage settlement of
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Brigham would fall even further
behind and continue to face recruitment and retention
problems.
MGB's Wealth:
- BWH routinely makes enormous profits, including $108.7 million in the fiscal year-to-date period
ending June 30, 2023, and
$123 million in FY2022, according to
CHIA. System-wide, MGB made $81.6
million in profits in the first quarter of FY2024.
- Anne Klibanski, MGB's president and CEO, made a nearly 25%
salary increase from 2020 to 2021, going from $4.3 million to more than $5 million.
- MGB is spending $2
billion expanding Mass General Hospital and Faulkner
Hospital. This follows construction of a $465 million HQ in Somerville and a reported
$100 million rebranding
campaign.
- BWH executive bonuses in FY2022 per an IRS filing:
NAME
|
TITLE
|
2022
BONUS
|
2022 TOTAL
COMP
|
Shelly
Anderson
|
Former COO
|
$ 198,000
|
$
1,306,387
|
Paul Anderson,
MD
|
Interim Chief Academic
Officer/SVP of Research
|
$ 140,260
|
$
950,302
|
Giles Boland,
MD
|
President
|
$ 301,000
|
$
1,472,989
|
Zara Cooper,
MD
|
Surgeon
|
$
82,900
|
$
804,502
|
Gerard Doherty,
MD
|
Chair, Surgery
Dept
|
$ 258,460
|
$
1,629,626
|
Christopher
Dunleavy
|
Former CFO
|
|
$
816,266
|
Sunil Eappen,
MD
|
Former CMO
|
$ 350,550
|
$
1,784,160
|
Niyum Gandhi
|
CFO, MGB
|
$ 576,000
|
$
1,689,274
|
Daphne Adele
Haas-Kogan, MD
|
Chair, Radiation
Oncology
|
$ 253,245
|
$
1,136,822
|
Robert Higgins,
MD
|
Former Brigham
president
|
$ 400,000
|
$
582,973
|
Garrett
McKinnon
|
VP, Finance
|
$
17,074
|
$
327,090
|
Daniel
Morash
|
CFO, Brigham
|
$
83,600
|
$
558,058
|
Nawal Nour,
MD
|
Chair,
OB/GYN
|
$ 491,123
|
$
1,304,236
|
Julia Sinclair,
MBA
|
SVP, Clinical
Services
|
$ 111,005
|
$
771,266
|
Peter
Markell
|
Former CFO
|
$
1,758,700
|
$
5,887,699
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTALS
|
$
5,021,917
|
$
21,021,650
|
Source: IRS 990
forms
|
|
|
|
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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the
largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. Its 25,000 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