BOSTON (WHDH) – Thousands of Brigham and Women\u2019s Nurses who walked off the job Wednesday tried to go back to work after a one-day strike, but found themselves locked out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe set a time-limited strike because we didn\u2019t want to do this to the city of Boston,\u201d said Kelly Morgan, the Brigham Bargaining Committee Chair. \u201cThis is a huge disruption to the community, to the patient care continuum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mass General Brigham, the state\u2019s largest healthcare system, said the nurses knew this was coming, explaining, \u201cWe communicated this information to nurses before the strike vote\u2026so they understood the implications of a strike before casting their vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the hospital system said 1,300 qualified temporary nurses have been contracted to fill in for a minimum of five days. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is no longer a labor dispute; it is a public safety and public health emergency,\u201d said Peter Caikauskas, the son of a Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital patient.<\/p>\n
Caikauskas said his father has spent the last five months in the hospital\u2019s ICU. He said the regular nurses know his father well, and he has found there is a stark difference with the temporary staff. <\/p>\n
\u201cI asked for an attending to speak with him, and the nurse didn\u2019t know how to page an attending. So during the hardest moments, I literally couldn\u2019t get the doctor,\u201d Caikauskas said.<\/p>\n
The union is asking for a cost-of-living pay increase, on top of their annual 5 percent raise. Hospital administrators said Brigham nurses are among the highest paid in the market, and the extra increase will add $128 million in labor debts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re out here because we need to ensure that your families get the pay and the health care you deserve,\u201d Senator Ed Markey said.<\/p>\n
Elected leaders are urging the hospital and nurses\u2019 union to negotiate. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to call, to push the conversation back to the table,\u201d Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said. <\/p>\n
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said they have been met with silence from Mass General Brigham. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not moving,\u201d said Jim McCarthy, the Brigham Bargaining Committee Vice Chair. \u201cThey should have been on the phone with us last night. We would have met last night, we\u2019d meet this morning, we\u2019d meet right now. Where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
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