Massachusetts Nurses Association

12/23/2025

UMass University RNs Brighten the Holidays with Delivery of $2,500 for "Sherry's House" in Worcester

Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association at UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus recently turned their shared commitment to care into collective action, raising $2,500 for Sherry’s House, a Worcester-based nonprofit that supports families confronting childhood cancer. For these nurses, the donation reflects a belief that advocacy and compassion don’t end when a shift does—they extend into the community.

Sherry’s House, part of the nonprofit "Why Me & Sherry’s House," provides a home-away-from-home for families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment, along with a wide range of no-cost support services. Founded in the 1980s by Worcester teenager Sherry Shepherd during her own cancer journey, the organization has spent nearly four decades ensuring that families facing unimaginable diagnoses are never alone. Its programs offer stability, comfort, and community at moments when families need them most.

As frontline caregivers, MNA members at UMass University see firsthand the emotional and financial toll childhood cancer takes on patients and their families. That perspective motivated nurses to come together and raise funds that would have a direct, local impact. By supporting Sherry’s House, they aimed to strengthen a resource that complements clinical care with compassion, connection, and practical help.

The MNA is proud to stand with organizations like Sherry’s House that share nurses’ values of dignity, equity, and patient-centered care. This donation is one small example of how union nurses continue to advocate not only for safe staffing and quality care inside hospital walls, but also for the well-being of the communities they serve.

The MNA offers a variety of nursing timely, relevant courses on a broad range of practice issues to accommodate our membership. MNA members receive discounts on course registration fees.

12/23/2025

Nurses at Boston Medical Center Brighton have authorized a potential three-day strike over proposed staffing and benefit cuts as the nurses’ union negotiates its first contract with new hospital leadership. ...

“When we learned that BMC was going to take over our hospital from Steward, we were thrilled and thought we were finally going to see the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel,” said nurse Ellen MacInnis during a recent negotiation session. “But since starting this process and seeing what you want to do to us, we now see that light as an oncoming train.”

In the decision to bring the strike authorization to a vote, MNA cited a number of contract changes proposed by BMC Brighton leadership that the union said would cut staffing levels and benefits. These changes, MNA said, would result in “the loss of thousands of dollars a year for most nurses” and reduction of the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain staff.

The majority of nurses at BMC Brighton took part in the vote to authorize a strike if needed, and 97 percent approved the measure.

12/22/2025

12/22/2025

The MNA's Newest Newsletter is Available and Has a New Name and Look! View and Download the MNA Advocate Now!

https://www.massnurses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MNA-Advocate-December-2025-EV-2.pdf

12/22/2025

Registered nurses at Boston Medical Center (BMC) Brighton (formerly St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center), represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their bargaining committee to call a three-day strike if necessary in response to BMC management’s demands to cut staffing levels, to gut nurses’ retirement, healthcare and time off benefits. The benefits cuts will result in the loss of thousands of dollars a year for most nurses while undermining the system’s ability to recruit and retain staff to ensure safe patient care.

“This vote sends a clear message that our members are united in our commitment to make a stand for our patients, our community and our professional integrity in the wake of this blatant effort to balance BMC’s budget on the backs of those who have the greatest impact on the safety of the patients and the future success of this facility,” said Kirsten Ransom, BMC Brighton RN and MNA committee co-chair.

Learn more:

The effort to cut nurses’ compensation comes after BMC received hundreds of millions from the Commonwealth to operate the hospital, formerly owned by Steward Healthcare, and after healthcare workers stuck with the... Read more »

12/18/2025

The MNA emergency department nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University Campus this week delivered a petition addressed to Justin Precourt, Medical Center president, calling for long-overdue safety improvements in the ED. When nurses arrived at leadership offices, the door was opened by a secretary to the chancellor, who declined to allow the group inside, but accepted the petition at the doorway and said it would be passed on to senior leadership that day — underscoring the distance nurses say remains between frontline staff and decision-makers as violence in healthcare continues to rise.

The nurses say they have advocated for these protections for more than three years, including the installation of bullet-resistant glass at triage, relocation of the metal detector to a more effective location, and a dedicated Hospital Police presence within the department. During that time, nurses were repeatedly told these measures were included in capital plans, only to later learn they had been cut.

The petition calls on hospital administration to provide a detailed safety plan with clear timelines for completion of these measures and any additional safety initiatives by January 1, 2026. Nurses warn that continued delays and lack of transparency leave frontline staff exposed and will require them to reassess how they pursue the protections needed to keep caregivers and patients safe.

12/18/2025

MNA nurses and healthcare workers stand with the NYC Garment Solidarity Committee in honoring Pushpalatha, a Sri Lankan garment worker at Brandix who died on October 10th.

Brandix has a documented history of labor rights violations, including Sri Lanka’s largest workplace COVID crisis and a recent accident where workers were injured on a Brandix transportation bus.

CIWU and Pushpalatha's family are demanding that Brandix and Victoria Secret

--Stop the cover up of Pushpalatha's death.
--Provide internationally recognized compensation for Pushpalatha’s family,
--A labor agreement to prevent future deaths and cover-up

Learn more:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CbqA42iwu/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSBZ49XCTZO/?igsh=MXMxenl0bHUwZDZ4eA%3D%3D
BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/globallaborjustice.bsky.social/post/3m7jbfktduk2c
X: https://x.com/global_labor/status/1998187616777200062?s=20
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/glj-global-labor-justice_justiceforpushpa-activity-7404135432109805568-b7lR/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAABJ-CQBCT6b07NTa4vdHdCjjt5qHaQUx1g

12/16/2025

Join the MNA at NURSES APPRECIATION NIGHT at the Worcester Railers on Friday, December 19th for a 7:05pm puck drop! Join us as we honor all of the great nurses in our community and have a fun night out together! Use this offer to claim ONE COMPLIMENTARY Ticket per order.

12/19/25 @ 7:05 PM - Massachusetts Nurses Association

12/16/2025

LAST CHANCE TO ENROLL! Open enrollment for SHORT TERM DISABILITY ends this Friday 12/19. For this time only all MNA members can enroll in Short-Term Disability and Whole Life Insurance with no medical questions asked. These benefits will pay over and above Benefit Time, sick time, workers compensation and PFMLA.
Protect your income today and secure coverage for your family’s future. Open Enrollment ends December 19.
Visit membershipbenefitsgroup.com/mna to learn more. Questions? Contact Jim Nason at 978-514-3946 or info@membershipbenefitsgroup.com.

Membership Benefits Group, in partnership with the MNA, is excited to announce Allstate Short-Term Disability plans—available exclusively to MNA members. These benefits offer enhanced protection over your employer-sponsored short-term disability coverage. Highlights include:

12/10/2025

This is the second newspaper in recent weeks to publish an editorial in support of legislation advanced by the MNA, Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, and 1199SEIU to prevent workplace violence and protect healthcare workers.

It took enacting a law to shield transit workers from assaults. Shouldn’t health-care workers receive the same protections?

12/05/2025

The MNA joined the strike line of our Worcester office neighbors, the Starbucks Baristas and SBWorkersUnited members. They will be on strike for the next few weeks in front of 11 E Central St, Worcester, MA from 7am-12pm every day. Please join them on the line if you can and get your coffee somewhere else!

12/03/2025

“Brigham nurses bring extraordinary clinical skill, specialized training, and decades of experience in burn care to this hospital,” said Kelly Morgan, a labor and delivery nurse and chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association union local at Brigham. “These skills belong here at the Brigham, not moved across the system.”
.. Because they are unionized and have a contract that protects them, Brigham nurses cannot be forced to transfer to MGH. Most would likely stay at Brigham because of their pensions, health insurance, and other benefits. Nurses at MGH are not unionized.

The nurses union says closing the Brigham's burn unit will squander years of experience by 150 nurses.