MNA Files Second Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against Brigham and Women's Hospital Due to Retaliation Against Nurses for Exercising Their Right to Strike

The federal charge was filed as Brigham nurses prepare to return to bargaining on August 6 with a focus on improving patient care by limiting temporary nurses

BOSTON, Aug. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) has filed a second unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Brigham and Women's Hospital stemming from the nurses' July 8 strike and MGB's subsequent lockout after the hospital illegally retaliated against nurses for exercising their federally protected right to participate in the historic strike.

The ULP charge states that after the one-day strike and the hospital's four-day lockout, Brigham management changed the work schedule for nurses on the hospital's 3BC unit, requiring approximately 75 of the unit's 100 nurses to begin working every other weekend instead of every third weekend. 3BC is a medical intensive care unit. According to the charge, the scheduling change was implemented after the strike and was retaliation against nurses for exercising their legal right to strike.

"For years, nurses on this unit have earned every-third-weekend schedules through seniority," said Kelly Morgan, RN, Chair of the Brigham MNA Bargaining Committee. "Many of these nurses have not been required to work every other weekend in more than a decade. There has been no increase in patient demand, no increase in staffing needs, and no operational reason for this drastic change. This is clearly retaliation against Brigham nurses after the hospital forced a strike by refusing to negotiate over key patient care-related issues."

This charge marks the second ULP charge Brigham nurses have filed against the hospital since the strike and lockout. On July 23, the MNA filed a charge stating that the hospital illegally prevented neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses from leaving the hospital to join their colleagues when the strike began on July 8. It also comes as Brigham nurses prepare to return to the bargaining table on August 6.

Nurses continue to call on MGB to negotiate a fair contract that improves patient care, strengthens recruitment and retention, limits the hospital's reliance on temporary nurses, protects affordable health insurance, and provides meaningful cost-of-living wage increases. MGB has refused to negotiate on many of the nurses' core priorities.

"Rather than respecting and negotiating with nurses who stood up for their patients and their profession, MGB continues to respond with retaliation and intimidation," Morgan said. "The hospital's actions are unacceptable and only make it more difficult to recruit and retain the experienced permanent nurses our patients deserve."

The two unfair labor practice charges come soon after Brigham nurses returned to bargaining following the largest nurse strike and lockout in Massachusetts history. During negotiations on July 21, nurses pressed MGB to negotiate meaningful limits on the hospital's reliance on temporary nurses, arguing that continuity of care provided by experienced permanent nurses is essential to protecting patients. MGB refused to negotiate.

"Our focus remains on reaching a fair agreement that benefits nurses and patients," Morgan said. "We hope MGB comes to bargaining on Thursday prepared to negotiate instead of continuing a pattern of retaliation and obstruction."

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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.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association