More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital are days away from walking off the job — not because they want to, but because they can't afford to stay.

The cost of living for a Massachusetts family rose nearly 50% between 2020 and 2024, according to the MassINC Policy Center. Inflation in the state remains close to 4%. And what did Mass General Brigham (MGB), one of the wealthiest hospital systems in the country, offer its nurses in response? A 0% cost-of-living increase.

Nurses at Brigham and Women's have spent more than seven months trying to negotiate a fair contract. They are asking for wages that keep pace with what it actually costs to live and work in Massachusetts, affordable health insurance, and basic limits on the use of temporary travel nurses. Instead, MGB — which reported $2.4 billion in net gains last year and pays its CEO over $8 million annually — has dragged its feet, refused to offer real wage growth, and proposed insurance premium increases on top of everything else.

Home care clinicians at MGB Home Care are in a similar fight. These nurses, therapists, social workers, and dieticians have been bargaining since March 2025 for their very first contract. They are asking for reasonable caseload limits, fair pay, and clear standards — the basics that allow them to do their jobs safely.

Image by ajay_suresh, CC BY 4.0

If MGB doesn't settle fair contracts before July 8, nearly 4,500 nurses and clinicians will walk out in the largest healthcare worker strike in Massachusetts history. That doesn't have to happen. MGB has the money. What it needs is the will.

Sign this petition to tell Mass General Brigham: pay your nurses fairly and settle these contracts before July 8.