Nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston will sit down with a mediator and hospital representatives to see if they can avoid a one-day strike next week.
Both sides will be at Boston's City Hall plaza to continue contract negotiations after 95-percent of voters said "yes" to the strike Monday night. The votes were cast in a secret ballot.
The groups are trying to agree on wages, time-off benefits, staffing levels and the length of the new contract. More than 3,000 nurses at the hospital have been trying to negotiate new contracts.
The hospital released a statement that said in part, "We sincerely hope that we can reach a fair and reasonable contract and avoid a strike. Our focus, however, remains on providing safe, high-quality care to our patients, and we will be ready to do so should a strike occur," said Ron M. Walls, MD, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Brigham and Women's Health Care.
The statement added, "The leadership team and the entire BWH community have the utmost respect for our nurses and the incredible care they deliver each day."
If nurses do strike, it would be the first in 30 years and the largest ever in Massachusetts.
