Above: Nurses on the picket line at the Harrison Avenue entrance to Boston Medical Center on July 22, 2026. Yawu Miller photo
By Alison Kuznitz, State House News Service
Nurses at Boston Medical Center voted this week to authorize a three-day strike, once again putting the spotlight on healthcare labor struggles after a strike at another Boston hospital earlier this summer.
Nearly 90% of the 2,000 nurses represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East voted in favor of the strike, the union announced Friday afternoon. Nurses have bargained with BMC management for more than six months, and the union says recent BMC proposals lack sufficient investment to address vacancies, train staff and ensure a “long-term commitment” to the communities the hospital serves.
“BMC nurses are fed up with getting by on wages and benefits that don’t keep up with the rising cost of living,” Kerry LaBarbera, an ER nurse, said in a statement. “We’re done seeing our talented colleagues leave for jobs at other hospitals with better pay, as over 70% of our nurses have been at BMC for six years or less. We’re tired of travelling nurses being brought in from out of state and paid more to do the same job, because management won’t invest in BMC’s own workforce.”
A 10-day notice is required before a hospital strike, and the union said no alert has been issued yet. The next bargaining session for nurses and BMC management is Sept. 25.
“And we’re prepared to strike if necessary to win the wages we need to get by, the adequate staffing levels our patients deserve, and the safe workplaces our co-workers need,” LaBarbera said. “A strike is a last resort, and we’d prefer to settle a contract that lets us care for our patients. But BMC management’s refusal to deliver is forcing us to take this step.”
In a letter to BMC CEO Dr. Alastair Bell last month, about 40 lawmakers called for “significant investments in nursing wages, benefits, staffing, safety, and retention as part of a fair contract settlement.”
More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital went on strike in July after failed contract negotiations. The intended one-day strike turned into a five-day work stoppage, as the Brigham brought in temporary nurses.
While Brigham nurses are back at work, their contract dispute remains unresolved and Gov. Maura Healey chimed in last Friday ahead of Labor Day.
“Nurses and health clinicians are the backbone of our health care system and do extraordinary work every day,” Healey said in a statement. “This has gone on too long. It’s been months of negotiations and now there are no bargaining sessions scheduled. We need MGB to schedule a new session and then stay at it until contracts are done.”
