MNA Nurses at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital to Vote on July 25 to Authorize a Potential Strike Over Wage Parity to Address Unsafe Staffing and Patient Care Conditions

Faulkner nurses are organizing toward a potential one-day strike because MGB refuses to properly value the excellent patient care Faulkner nurses provide under extremely challenging conditions

BOSTON, July 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The approximately 500 registered nurses of Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will vote on July 25 to authorize a potential one-day strike. Nurses are preparing for a strike because after months of negotiations, Mass General Brigham refuses to provide Faulkner nurses wage parity with Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses, and thereby is failing to address longstanding unsafe staffing and patient safety issues.

"MGB executives have long treated Faulkner Hospital like a part of Brigham and Women's Hospital but refuse to compensate us equally and ensure Faulkner has the nurses needed for safe patient care," said Dan Rec, a Faulkner RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "We are concerned about the damaging cycle of Faulkner nurses receiving lower pay than the Brigham, making retention and recruitment difficult, and leading to understaffing, danger, and stress."

"We don't want to strike but are prepared to act out of concern for the safety of our patients and the health of our nursing workforce," said Kathy Glennon, a Faulkner RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "The wage disparity between Brigham and the Faulkner is a significant drag on our ability to keep nurses at the Faulkner and overcome the many challenges of our current healthcare system."

A positive strike vote will give the nurses elected to the Faulkner MNA Bargaining Committee authorization to hold a one-day strike if necessary. A strike date has not been selected. If scheduled, that date will be announced to the public once the hospital has been given the 10-day notice required by law. Faulkner nurses would then plan to hold a 24-hour strike unless Faulkner agreed to a fair contract by that date.

Why Faulkner Nurses Deserve Brigham Wage Parity

Nurses at Faulkner Hospital currently make significantly less than nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The top step of the Faulkner salary scale is $78.85. The top step at BWH is $86.95. That is nearly a 10% difference in pay. Faulkner's beginning step is $32.54. BWH's beginning step is $36.04. Yet MGB treats the Faulkner like it is part of the Brigham. Faulkner patient care and working conditions are just as challenging, and the hospital has dozens of vacant nursing positions.

• MGB promotes Faulkner using the BWH name. In press releases and announcements, it uses the term "the Brigham family." 
• • In September 2023, the hospital celebrated the 25-year relationship between Faulkner and BWH by saying, "This integration has allowed BWFH to become vitally important to the work of the Brigham family…"
  • Faulkner and Brigham's internal medicine residency program, general surgery program, and surgical chief resident rotation have been integrated for more than 20 years.
  • Faulkner is home to numerous BWH institutions, including the BWH Comprehensive Spine Center, the BWH Sleep Medicine and Endocrinology Center and the BWH Department of Orthopedic Surgery.
• Many staff who work at the Faulkner are employed by BWH, including at physician offices and the Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery Center.
• The Brigham pays nurses the BWH MNA salary scale at other off-site locations, including the BWH Health Care Center 850 Boylston St. and the joint BWH/MGH health center in Foxborough.
• In some cases, management oversees Faulkner staff from offices at the Brigham, including a Brigham-based director who supervises Faulkner operating room assistants and Samantha Rowley, Vice President of Perioperative Services.
• BWH is even sending robots to Faulkner! A surgical robot has been accompanied by related cases coming from the Brigham.

MGB Financial Highlights

• MGB made $579 million system-wide in profits during the fiscal period ending December 31, 2023, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis. Faulkner Hospital made $9.5 million in profits during that period.
• 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.

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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.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association