Tentative agreement includes no takeaways – including maintaining current health insurance benefits – and features major gains for nurses and patients

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have reached a tentative agreement (TA) with Mass General Brigham (MGB), averting the need for the one-day strike that had been authorized by a 99% strike vote by Cooley nurses. The agreement – featuring significant investment by MGB in nurses and the patient care they provide – was reached late Friday and finalized on Tuesday after intensive negotiations over the last few weeks.

The tentative agreement will be presented to the Cooley Dickinson RN bargaining unit for a ratification vote.

"This tentative agreement reflects the strength, unity, and unwavering commitment of Cooley nurses to safe patient care," said Rosie Tottser, Cooley Dickinson RN and MNA Committee Co-Chair. "After many months of standing together, we secured a contract with no takeaways and real improvements that will help us recruit and retain the nurses our patients deserve."

"We are extremely proud of what we achieved for our nurses, patients, and our entire community," said Aaron Winston, RN and MNA Committee Co-Chair. "This agreement protects essential RN benefits, substantially improves our wages and will help to ensure Cooley patients have safe staffing levels. We also want to thank the community for standing with us in solidarity."

Highlights of the Tentative Agreement

The Cooley nurses' agreement stands out for its complete lack of takeaways. These are proposals by management that cut or reduce benefits or working standards in a union contract. MGB originally proposed several takeaways when negotiations began in January 2025. Cooley nurses fought off all the takeaways. These accomplishments include:

• Preserving the current health insurance program and full-time coverage eligibility for nurses at 30+ hours.
• Preserving nurses' Extended Illness Bank, daily overtime, and free life insurance plans.
• Retaining Veterans Day as a holiday.
• Keeping the Child Birth Center as a closed unit to protect the quality of patient care.
• Maintaining Earned Time Off (ETO) for eight-to-20-hour nurses, as well as ETO accrual based on hours worked rather than scheduled hours.
• Defeating a management-proposed clinical ladder program that would have been disconnected from the actual needs of nurses and patients.

Cooley nurses have been united in advocating for competitive wages and enhanced benefits to improve recruitment and retention, including by holding a well-attended informational picket in June. Inflation has spiked in recent years, but their wages have not kept a pace. In addition, during previous contract negotiations MGB chipped away at the nurses' contract through inadequate wage increases and reductions in benefits. This TA helps reverse both trends through strong improvements to wages, differentials, and expanded benefits.

• Wages
• An across-the-board (ATB increase of more than 8.5% for all grades in year one, retroactive to April 1, 2025.
• 2.5% ATB increase in Year 2.
• 3% ATB increase in Year 3.
• 2% lump sum for nurses at top step in Years 2 and 3 on anniversary dates.
• The ATB increases are in addition to annual step scale increases nurses receive.
• Differential & Premium Pay Increases
• Increases to evening, night, charge, on-call, and FA differentials (FA differentials increased to $10).
• Added preceptor pay for students.
• Enhanced Benefits
• Increased bereavement leave for grandparents and grandchildren.
• Increased certification bonus and tuition reimbursement.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 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.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association