Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses locked out after ending one-day strike in Boston: "Let us in!"

Source: CBS News

By Penny Kmitt
Updated on: July 9, 2026 / 9:03 AM EDT / CBS Boston

The one-day nurses strike at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston ended Thursday morning, but a four-day lockout began, keeping the 4,000 union nurses out of the facility.

Hundreds of nurses walked off the picket line at 7 a.m. marking an end to their 24-hour strike over better pay. When they went to the front door of the hospital chanting "let us in!" they were turned away. The nurses then returned to picketing outside the main campus on Francis Street.

"It was defeating. It was absolutely defeating and demoralizing. We want to go back to work. We only wanted to do this for 24 hours. We want to be in there and take care of our patients and that's what we're asking to do and they just won't let us," said lead union negotiator Kelly Morgan.

Mass General Brigham (MGB), which owns the hospital, hired nearly 1,300 replacement nurses to cover shifts for five days. The strike was planned for one day, but the nurses will be locked out for four more days. The hospital said that's because the replacement nurses are contracted for five days of work.


Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses in Boston were locked out on July 9, 2026 after their one-day strike.
CBS Boston via Penny Kmitt

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/brigham-and-womens-hospital-nurses-lockout-strike-boston/