BostonGlobe.com21%
Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses’ work stoppage continues 28%
By Marin Wolf47% Adam Sennott47%
7/10/2026, 3:36:38 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 1 faulty reasoning type, including Ad Hominem, with Ad Hominem as the most egregious example at 4.9% saturation with 41 hits. Analysis detected 41 faulty-reasoning hits from 838 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 39.9% and a BS Rank of 28% (10,034 of 13,766 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 72.90% of the article peer group.
Some 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital went on strike Wednesday, before being locked out of the hospital for four days.
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Brigham and Women’s Hospital issued a cease-and-desist letter to striking nurses over “excessive noise and other disruptive activities” it alleged they were doing while picketing for a new contract, the hospital said Friday.
The hospital issued the order as the nurses strike-turned-lockout stretched into a third day Friday with no deal in sight.
The hospital said in a statement that it heard concerns about the “significant noise” from patients, families, visitors, staff, and nearby residents.
The hospital said the “disruption is affecting residents and the hospital’s healing environment and creating challenges for patients and care teams.”
The hospital said it issued the letter to the Massachusetts Nurses Association and will share a letter of apology with nearby residents.
“If they want us to cease-and-desist they can let us come back to work and start bargaining with us,” Morgan said,
David Schildmeier, director of public communications for Massachusetts Nurses Association, said in an email the hospital should negotiate instead of “having their union busting law firm sending letters on behalf of their billionaire board of hedge fund executives and venture capitalists.”
He added that now is the time to get in the room and reach a settlement that is fair to nurses and good for the patients.
“The time for legal posturing and baseless threats is over,” Schildmeier said.
The state’s biggest-ever nurses’ walkout has raised tensions between the Brigham and the nurses’ union, both of whom have been unsuccessfully negotiating a new contract for months.
The stalled bargaining involving Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital system, is caught on pay increases and health insurance costs.
Kristen Robishaw, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, said union members remain hopeful that negotiations will progress over the weekend, but no one will be surprised if they don’t.
“I think we know that we’re going to come back to work on Monday as planned, without an agreement,” Robishaw said.
In a statement Friday, Mass General Brigham officials refuted the union’s claims that the hospital has been unwilling to come to the bargaining table, saying they have attended over 20 negotiation sessions since November.
“During the work stoppage we are focused on patient care and ensuring our clinical teams have the resources they need to continue providing our excellent standard of patient care,” the statement said.
“We respect and value our nurses and remain committed to reaching a fair agreement.”
The 4,000-nurse union, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, planned a one-day strike that began Wednesday morning.
The striking nurses are now locked out of the Brigham until Monday because the hospital said it was obligated to give the 1,300 temporary nurses hired to care for patients through the strike at least five days of work.
Also ongoing is a seven-day strike by clinicians at MGB Home Care, which began at the same time as the Brigham strike.
A tense exchange between the Brigham union and hospital security guards marked the start of the lockout Thursday.
Labor and delivery nurse and union chair Kelly Morgan told a security guard that she and others were reporting for their shifts.
Chants of “Let us in” thundered outside the hospital’s main entrance.
Mass General Brigham, the health system that includes the Brigham, said nurses had long been on notice about the hospital’s lockout plans: “We communicated this information to nurses before the strike vote through a June 12 email and a letter sent to their homes so they understand the implications of a strike before casting their vote.”
Nurses demonstrated outside the hospital this week.
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Picketers for the strike have taken over Francis Street outside of the hospital, sporting signs and cheering for supportive honking from passers-by.
The strike has drawn attention not only from people near the hospital, but from state leaders as well.
Governor Maura Healey brought both sides to the State House on Wednesday for discussions that ultimately didn’t end in any movement toward a new contract.
Senator Elizabeth Warren gave donuts out to the picketing nurses Wednesday, and Senator Ed Markey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spoke at a rally Thursday.
MGB and the union are particularly struggling to find common ground on pay.
The union wants a 3 percent raise for the first six months and a 4 percent raise for the next 12 months of the contract.
The hospital is refusing any new across-the-board raise, saying nurses already receive a 5 percent raise on the yearly anniversary of their hiring until two decades of service.
Brigham nurses are among the highest paid in the state, starting at $86,700 annually, while those with two decades of service earn at least $220,000, according to MGB.
Nearly one-third of the union, of 1,322 nurses, earn that maximum amount.
Marin Wolf can be reached at marin.wolf@globe.com .
Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com .
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