The one-day nurses strike at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston ended Thursday morning, but a four-day lockout began, keeping the 4,000 union nurses out of the facility. Hundreds of nurses walked off the picket line at 7 a.m. marking an end to their 24-hour strike over better pay. When they went to the front door of the hospital chanting “let us in!” they were turned away. The nurses then returned to picketing outside the main campus on Francis Street.
Kelly Morgan and the Union Nurses Locked Out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Lead union negotiator Kelly Morgan described the situation as demoralizing. “It was defeating. It was absolutely defeating and demoralizing. We want to go back to work. We only wanted to do this for 24 hours. We want to be in there and take care of our patients and that’s what we’re asking to do and they just won’t let us,” said Morgan. Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses in Boston were locked out on July 9, 2026, after their one-day strike.
Mass General Brigham (MGB), which owns the hospital, hired nearly 1,300 replacement nurses to cover shifts for five days. The hospital stated that the lockout is occurring because the replacement nurses are contracted for five days of work. MGB said the replacement nurses “are providing great care to our patients” and “the safety of care has been equivalent or better than the usual Brigham performance.”
Mass General Brigham Contract Negotiations and Home Health Care Worker Strikes
It was the largest health care strike in Massachusetts history. MGB has been negotiating two contracts for several months—one for the 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s and another for nearly 500 home health care workers. The home health care workers are on strike for a week, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday, July 15, at 8 a.m. More than 175 replacement clinicians started covering shifts for the striking staff on Thursday. MGB stated that nurses are already paid competitively and receive annual five-percent raises with their seniority. Conversely, the union stated the hospital offered zero-percent raises to base salaries despite the cost of living in the Boston area being at an all-time high.
Both sides met with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey at the State House on Wednesday but failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. MGB stated the hospital “remains open and fully operational, and patients should continue to come to scheduled appointments unless they hear directly from their care team.” According to MGB, the hospital has “activated comprehensive operational and emergency preparedness plans, including leadership coverage, clinical staffing plans, patient communications and coordination across Mass General Brigham to ensure that patients continue to receive high-quality, safe care.”
Warren Carter and Ken Casey Support Striking Nurses on the Picket Line
Warren Carter, a patient at Brigham and Women’s, left his hospital bed Thursday wearing a sign in support of the nurses. “I understand the arguments on both sides, but I believe the nurses are one of those classes of citizens and workers who are perpetually underpaid, underprovided for,” said Carter. “I’ve been in the hospital for two weeks, and as difficult as that stay can be, the nurses in this hospital have made it bearable and almost enjoyable.” Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys also visited the picket line, stating, “Pay these people what they deserve, and I’m always here to support working people.”
A dispute arose between the union and MGB regarding a medical emergency outside the hospital Thursday morning. “There was not quick attention by the people on the inside to respond to that emergency, so I went across the picket line and I took care of the patient,” Morgan said. “There was a delay in the responsiveness of the code team, or of the code even being called, and it delayed the patient getting the care that they needed.”
MGB responded, stating, “We immediately mobilized the emergency specialized care team necessary who arrived at the designated location within minutes of receiving the call. Upon arrival, the patient was no longer at that location because she had been escorted elsewhere in the hospital by nurses participating in the work stoppage.” The hospital added that its “adult, obstetric, and neonatal emergency response processes exist to ensure the fastest possible expert clinical assessment and care for patients who need urgent medical attention.”
MGB noted that they had communicated the lockout plans to nurses before the strike vote through a June 12 email and a letter sent to their homes. The hospital reiterated that its “highest priority is the safety and well-being of our patients.”
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