A historic labor war is colliding with the global stage this week, as over 4,000 Brigham and Women’s nurses prepare for the state’s largest-ever nursing strike on the eve of a World Cup quarterfinal in Foxboro.
Though the nurses’ union called for just a one-day strike, the work stoppage is set to lock down the state’s largest healthcare system for five days, stretching from Wednesday at 7 a.m. through July 13.
The looming strike has forced a rewrite of emergency medical staffing arrangements at Gillette Stadium (Boston Stadium) for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal between France and Morocco.
Mass General Brigham, which has a staffing contract with FIFA, confirmed that physician assistants will replace nurses at the high-stakes contest, “regardless of whether a work stoppage occurs.”
Anna Meyer, associate chief nursing officer for emergency medicine, informed staffers of the change last week in an email the Herald obtained on Tuesday.
“We recognize that many of you were prepared and willing to support this event, and that this change may be disappointing,” Meyer wrote. “Staffing these matches requires extensive advance planning, and we needed to make these decisions now to ensure we can meet our commitment.”
MGB told the Herald the extended timeframe is a mandatory emergency preparedness measure required to secure qualified replacement agency nurses who demand a five-day minimum work commitment.
The historic strike comes as Gov. Maura Healey pushes for a compromise following months of failed collective bargaining.
BWH staffers are seeking cost-of-living increases, affordable health insurance, and limits on travel nurses. Meanwhile, roughly 450 MGB home care clinicians plan to start a separate seven-day strike on Wednesday.
At a July 2 bargaining session, the MNA said MGB representatives were “unwilling to move off their 0% cost of living wage proposal.” The union has circulated executive compensation data showing the top 14 MGB corporate leaders received a combined $35.9 million in fiscal 2024.
“MGB has told us at the bargaining table they are not willing to move off their insulting 0% offer or engage on other key issues,” said Kelly Morgan, chair of the Brigham MNA Bargaining Committee.
A union spokesperson told the Herald that talks did not take place on Tuesday, as members contacted elected officials to urge MGB to come to the table.
MGB spokesperson Jessica Pastore countered that the system is bargaining in good faith, noting their proposal preserves 5% annual pay increases as nurses move through the wage scale, building on a 55% average growth in Brigham nurse wages over five years.
MGB maintained there will be no direct impact on emergency medical care provided at Thursday’s match—the final tournament game Boston Stadium will host.
Four to five highly vetted nurses are typically assigned per game, requiring at least five years of ER experience and triage training, according to Priya Thorat, a BWH emergency room nurse since 2020.
Thorat is warning that care dynamics will fundamentally change with PAs leading the stadium’s four First-Aid rooms.
“I don’t know how proficient they are in spiking IV bags, drawing up their own medicine to push; it’s just second nature for us as ER nurses,” she told the Herald. “They’ll learn, I’m sure, but it definitely won’t be as proficient as an ER nurse who has been trained for however many years to do this.”
State House News Service contributed to this report