Brigham Nurses’ Strike Is Off. Here’s What the Tentative Deal Would Change.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses were due to begin an open-ended strike Thursday morning. Instead, a tentative agreement reached November 11 has averted the walkout, with more than 4,000 registered nurses still needing to vote on whether to accept the deal.

WBUR reports that nurses will work their regular shifts and the hospital won’t use the temporary workers it had prepared to cover the strike.

According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association’s summary, the hospital would post 20 new float-pool positions, each for 36 hours a week. Those are promised job postings, rather than 20 nurses already hired.

A joint committee would review temporary staffing and movement between units. The hospital must explain when temporary nurses cover more than 15% of a unit’s full-time-equivalent positions; the summary doesn’t establish a 15% cap.

For individual health plans, current nurses working 40 hours would keep premium-free coverage. Newly hired nurses working 40 hours would contribute 2.5% of the premium, according to the union.

The wage provisions add a top step 2.5% above the previous highest step, with another top step in September 2027. Nurses below the top step would receive a $1,000 bonus, prorated by their working hours.

The proposed contract would run from ratification through September 30, 2028. The elected bargaining committee recommends approval.

Hospital officials told WBUR the agreement stays within the limits of their earlier final offer. Their statement described it as recognizing nurses’ contributions while supporting the hospital’s financial sustainability and ability to care for patients.

Getting to this point has already involved one rejected offer. Nurses voted down the hospital’s previous proposal in October, after an earlier strike date was postponed so members could consider it. A July one-day walkout had been followed by a four-day lockout.

In its November 5 strike notice, the MNA said nurses were seeking limits on temporary staffing, insurance choice and a competitive wage scale. The renewed walkout was scheduled to start at 7 a.m. November 12, without a fixed end date.

The immediate result is a canceled strike. The staffing, insurance and pay changes remain proposed contract terms until the nurses themselves ratify the agreement.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, November 6, 2025. Archival photo by Ajay Suresh via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.