Mass General Brigham nurse strike ends in $400K vs $8.4M pay fight
Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses are scheduled to return to work Monday, July 13, ending Massachusetts' largest-ever Mass General Brigham nurse strike and a four-day lockout—yet still without a new contract. Roughly 4,000 union members walked out July 8 over wages and benefits, sharpening public debate over CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski's $8.4 million pay versus top nurse salaries exceeding $400,000. Both sides accuse each other of being out of touch with economic reality as contract talks remain deadlocked.
Key Takeaways
- About 4,000 Brigham nurses walked out July 8; a one-day strike became a five-day stoppage after Mass General Brigham ordered a four-day lockout.
- Nurses plan to walk in together at 7 a.m. Monday, but NBC Boston reports no new deal on wages, benefits, or working conditions.
- CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski earned $8.4 million in 2023, per Guidestar tax filings cited by the Boston Herald; BWH's top nurse earned $412,299 in 2025.
- Mass General Brigham says its offer continues 5% annual step increases; the union's proposal would push nursing labor costs from about $746 million to $920 million yearly.
- Both sides in the Mass General Brigham nurse dispute accuse each other of being out of touch with economic reality.
Why did Brigham nurses go on strike?
Massachusetts Nurses Association members at Brigham and Women's Hospital voted to strike after months of contract talks failed, the Boston Herald reports. The work stoppage at Brigham and Mass General Brigham Home Care sites began early Wednesday, July 8, on Francis Street in Boston.
Nurses finished their planned one-day strike Thursday morning, but Mass General Brigham extended the outage with a four-day lockout. Leadership cited extensive operational and emergency preparedness measures and obligations to temporary replacement staff.
The hospital hired about 1,300 temporary nurses, according to NBC Boston. Management says operations were unaffected; nurses on the picket line dispute that assessment.
How much do top nurses and the CEO earn?
The pay gap has become a rallying symbol. Picketers carried signs targeting hospital CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski, who earned $8.4 million in 2023 according to 990 tax forms posted on Guidestar, the Boston Herald reported.
Klibanski leads Mass General Brigham, the parent system that owns Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Yet the Herald also notes that Brigham's highest-paid nurses are among the best compensated in the state.
A salary list shared by the hospital shows the top-earning nurse made $412,299 in 2025. The next 10 nurses each earned at least $300,000, with one reaching $358,175. Every nurse in the top 100 took home more than $237,000 last year.
When are nurses returning to work?
Nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital are expected back Monday morning, five days after the strike began, NBC Boston reports. All nurses were scheduled to walk in together at 7 a.m.
CBS News also reported nurses returning Monday after the strike and lockout. For many, the moment is bittersweet: they drew local and statewide attention but head back without the raises and benefit improvements they sought.
What happens next in contract talks?
Negotiations remain stalled. NBC Boston says more than 20 bargaining sessions have failed and no new meeting is scheduled. Mass General Brigham maintains its current proposal adds meaningful value by continuing 5% increases across a 20-step wage scale and a 2.5% bump for nurses at the top step—without new across-the-board base raises.
Under the union's plan, the system says Brigham nursing salary and benefit spending would jump from roughly $746 million to $920 million annually, with nurse wages approaching half of all hospital labor costs. That math frames a broader question about how nonprofit health systems balance executive compensation, frontline pay, and patient care—topics we also track in our Future Tech & AI Wonders coverage of workforce and health innovation.
For full details on the salary disclosures and lockout timeline, see the Boston Herald report.