MGB health care workers Shannon Viera and Karen Estey addressed the City Council at their latest meeting, discussing issues related to the recent nurses strike.

By Christa Lee

Two Mass General Brigham (MGB) health care workers, Shannon Viera and Karen Estey, spoke at the City Council meeting on July 9, bringing further attention to the negotiations between the Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses and Mass General Brigham.

Shannon, a nurse for MGB for 12 years and chair of the MGB Home Care Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) Bargaining Committee, spoke about the precarious position that nurses are in with the pay and workload given to them. “Currently, we take home two, three, four hours of work with us every night, depending on our caseloads,” said Viera. “We’re looking for caseload limits related to how many patients we can safely care for. These patients need to be seen two to three times a week, usually. It’s unmanageable in a 40-hour work week.”

Karen, a speech therapist with MGB Home Care and secretary of the union, broke down the disparity in pay. “We haven’t been able to have even cost-of-living increases,” said Estey. “We get a standard raise every year and, meanwhile, our CEO has had her pay increased by 40%. In four years, ours have increased 2.5% every year.” Boston.com reported that the CEO and President of MGB, Anne Klibanski, earned $8.4 million in 2024.

Most of the city councilors made remarks in support of the strike at that meeting. Matthew McLaughlin, Ward One City Councilor, spoke about the city bringing in Partners Healthcare to Assembly Row as renters instead of owners. This meant that the city of Somerville “ended up missing out on a big bonus.” And now that Mass General Brigham is “not paying their nurses,” the organization is “operating as a Fortune 500 company with a nonprofit status”.

“This organization would not exist were it not for nurses,” said McLaughlin. “So I expect them to treat their nurses the way that they should and pay them what they deserve.”

The Council passed a resolution in support of the striking nurses.

The nurses returned to work on Monday after being locked out for four days after a one-day strike.