The 3,300 unionized nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on Monday will vote whether to authorize a one-day strike. The hospital and the union have been negotiating a contract for over nine months and 19 bargaining sessions.
The nurses, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, are asking for more comprehensive insurance, more paid time off, higher wages and more staff in the thoracic intermediate-care unit. The nurses say the hospital recently admitted to reducing staff in the unit during the day to make up for a shortage at night.
The nurses claim the hospital offers fewer benefits to newly hired nurses and provides them with eight fewer days off per year and a health plan with higher premiums. The union also claims hospital administrators have said they'll hire 700 temporary nurses to provide patient care during a potential strike.
Brigham and Women's Hospital did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
The nurses have also taken issue with a proposed 1% salary increase over three years for all nurses, and a 0.5% increase for nurses at the top of the salary scale, claiming CEO Dr. Elizabeth Nabel got an 18% raise. Nabel, whose salary is $1.3 million, has been under scrutiny recently for wages earned outside of her duties at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
An affiliate of Partners HealthCare, Brigham is a 793-bed hospital with more than 1,200 physicians.
