The nurses and NPs of MGB occupational health services unionized to improve patient care and secure an equal voice in workplace decision making
BOSTON, Mass. – The 24 registered nurses and nurse practitioners of Mass General Brigham Occupational Health Services (MGB/OHS) have voted overwhelmingly to unionize and join the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), empowering them to advocate together for patient care and workplace improvements.
Nurses and NPs spoke with a unified and powerful voice – voting 91% in favor of unionizing. They overcame MGB’s attempts to obstruct the election process and are fully prepared to take on any union-busting by New England’s largest hospital corporation.
“We, the nurses, and nurse practitioners of MGB/Enterprise OHS, are united in our belief that we deserve to be valued and respected for the vital occupational health care we provide to all MGB employees,” the nurses and NPs said in their mission statement. “As such we stand together in support of fair compensation, respect, safety, balanced workloads, adequate resources, and transparency.”
100% of eligible nurses and NPs voted in a mailed election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that began on March 5. The vote count took place at the NLRB Boston Office on March 27. Following the election, nurses will establish local union guidelines, vote for their elected leaders and bargaining committee, and begin determining proposals for first contract negotiations.
The MNA is the largest union and professional organization of nurses and healthcare professionals in Massachusetts. It represents 25,000 members in healthcare facilities across the state, including nurses at more than 70 percent of the Commonwealth’s acute care hospitals. The MNA is led by a board of directors that is directly elected by its membership and consists of front-line nurses and other healthcare professionals.
