Nurses at Faulkner Hospital voted Thursday to authorize a strike, joining nurses at Brigham and Women's who took a similar vote one night earlier.
In another blow to hospital administration, nurses at Faulkner, part of the Brigham and Women's system, were almost unanimous in their vote -- 341 yes and just one no.
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This will impact about 500 members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, many of whom are making their intentions clear this evening: That they are prepared to strike if Mass General Brigham does not settle a new contract.
They've been in negotiations for the past 10 months.
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The union is primarily asking for competitive wages to keep staff from going to other hospitals, as well as better safety measures.
On Wednesday, thousands of nurses in the same union at Brigham and Women's Hospital voted by a 2,507-16 margin to authorize a one-day strike, as well.
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If health care workers at both hospitals decide to move forward with strikes, it could impact about 4,500 nurses in total.
Nurses have to give the hospital system a 10-day notice if they plan to hit the picket line.
"We are ecstatic that we are hopefully going to tell management that we are strong as a union and that we are here for our patients," said Dan Rec, a nurse at Faulkner. "That's our big thing, right? We are looking for retention and we are looking for recruitment."
"It's hard every day to go in and know that we're going – we're doing the work of two people because we're down how many nurses every day," added Faulkner nurse Janet Donovan. "It's a revolving door, and it's not pretty."
"Progress has been made on several topics and we have presented a fair, equitable proposal," a Mass General Brigham spokesperson said in a statement to NBC10 Boston Thursday night. "Our focus remains on supporting our nurses while providing high-quality, safe care for our patients. If a strike takes place, we are positioned to continue to provide the care our patients expect."
A contract negotiation is scheduled next month. If an agreement is not reached by then, a possible date for a strike would likely be set.
