Brigham Says Nurses Union Withdraws Indefinite Strike Notice as Final Offer Heads to Vote

By Tiffany Williams –

Brigham and Women’s Hospital says the Massachusetts Nurses Association has withdrawn its indefinite strike notice and agreed to put the hospital’s final contract offer before its members. The development followed 13 hours of negotiations during the parties’ 27th bargaining session, leaving nurses with a decision on a proposal covering wages, health insurance and several staffing concerns.

The hospital described the offer as its last, best and final proposal. Withdrawal of the strike notice moves the dispute toward a membership vote, but the materials provided do not report ratification or announce a voting date. The proposed contract would run from ratification through September 30, 2028.

“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.”

In its message to nurses, the hospital said the remaining issues were wages and health insurance. It said its proposal would ensure an increase in every nurse’s base salary in both contract years. The wage terms would add a new 2.5 percent top step to all scales upon ratification and another 2.5 percent top step effective September 30, 2027.

Those scales cover staff nurses, nurses in charge, midwives, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, staff education instructors and nurse anesthetists. The hospital’s description concerns new top steps; it does not describe the proposal as identical across-the-board percentage increases for every nurse.

On health insurance, the hospital’s message states: “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.”

The hospital also reported progress on floating, agency nurse usage and shift cancellations, saying discussion resolved three union priorities earlier in the session. To reduce reliance on travelers and the need for staff to float, it agreed to post 20 positions of 36 hours each for the Float Pool within 60 days of ratification.

Under the proposal, the hospital would track floating into and out of each unit throughout 2027, along with agency nurse usage, including locums and the Mass General Brigham Internal Resource Pool. It would provide the information to the MNA quarterly and meet with the union in late July 2027 to review it.

Beginning in 2027, the hospital would also notify the MNA when an agency nurse, locum or traveler, including someone from the internal resource pool, works at the hospital for more than six months in a calendar year. These commitments are described in the hospital’s account of the proposed contract.

For a regularly scheduled nurse whose extra or overtime shift is canceled, the hospital agreed to provide at least one hour and 45 minutes of notice before the shift begins or pay the nurse $70. That requirement would not apply when the canceled shift follows a regularly scheduled shift; in that situation, notice would be provided before the extra or overtime shift starts.

The hospital’s announcement comes against a backdrop of public pressure to avoid a strike. In an October 7, 2026, statement, Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and eight Massachusetts House members urged Mass General Brigham and the MNA to keep negotiating toward an agreement.

“Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system—our loved ones and communities rely on them each and every day. Our nurses deserve fair contracts that reflect that standard of care. Their voices must be heard.”

The delegation included Representatives Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Lori Trahan, Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton, Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch and Bill Keating. Their statement said a strike could seriously affect communities, patients and healthcare workers, and called for a good faith agreement addressing nurses’ and patients’ needs.

The next step described by the hospital is a vote by MNA members on the final offer. Until that decision, the proposed wage, insurance and staffing provisions remain terms awaiting approval, rather than a ratified contract.