Vote demonstrates strong unity among RNs seeking safe staffing, affordable health insurance, and competitive pay at Northampton hospital
NORTHAMPTON, Mass., Oct. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Registered nurses at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their bargaining committee to call a one-day strike if necessary, sending a powerful message to hospital owner Mass General Brigham (MGB) that Cooley nurses are united in their demand for safe staffing, affordable health insurance, and competitive wages.
Cooley nurses voted 99% or 295 yes votes to 3 no votes. With 399 MNA nurses at Cooley, turnout for the vote was a very strong 75%. This vote does not mean a strike will occur, and no strike has been scheduled. The RN bargaining committee will determine if and when to set a strike date depending on how MGB conducts itself in upcoming negotiations. Before any strike can take place, the committee would provide the hospital with the legally required 10-day notice.
“Nurses have sent a clear message that we are united and ready to stand up for our patients and our community,” said Rosie Tottser, Cooley Dickinson RN and MNA Committee Co-Chair. “MGB is the wealthiest hospital system in New England, yet it refuses to invest in the frontline care that makes our community hospital strong. We are calling for the resources and respect our patients deserve.”
“Our vote shows the depth of solidarity among Cooley nurses,” said Aaron Winston, Cooley Dickinson RN and MNA Committee Co-Chair. “If MGB can pay its CEO more than $8 million a year, it can afford to ensure safe staffing and fair wages in Northampton. We remain hopeful that MGB will choose to negotiate a fair agreement so that a strike is not necessary.”
What Cooley Nurses Are Seeking
- Safe Staffing: Enforceable staffing grids to address nurse burnout, turnover, and patient safety. MGB refuses to agree to these protections and has failed to address the emergency department staffing crisis, even while expanding the Cooley ED.
- Competitive Wages: Cooley nurses make up to $15/hour less than peers at UMass Memorial for the same experience, and far less than nurses at other MGB hospitals who recently won raises. This wage gap fuels turnover and threatens safe patient care.
- Affordable Health Insurance: MGB wants to replace Cooley nurses’ current insurance plans with three MGB plans that come with higher out-of-pocket costs and potential severe future increases in premium costs. Under management’s proposal, premium costs could skyrocket because they would be tied to non-union costs without any contractual protection. MGB also wants to redefine full-time from 30 to 36 hours, which would negatively impact many nurses. Nurses are fighting for enforceable protections for premium splits and 30-hour full-time eligibility.
MGB Financial Background
- MGB CEO Anne Klibanski made $8.4M in FY2023 (the latest year available) – a 40% raise in one year – including $4.3 million in bonuses, according to the Boston Globe.
- From 2018 to 2023, MGB executives and key employees made $819 million in total salary. They made a combined $100 million in bonuses, according to MGB filings.
- Cooley Dickinson alone reported $9.7 million in profit in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA).
- According to the Boston Globe, “the MGB system found itself $2 billion richer in the year ending in September [2024], almost doubling the $1.2 billion net margin the system reported the year prior.”
- MGB is spending $2 billion expanding Massachusetts General Hospital and Faulkner Hospital while proposing cuts for frontline caregivers in Western Massachusetts.
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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
