By Bob Katzen

“We have repeatedly tried to get Mass General Brigham to negotiate and avoid a second strike, but the billionaires who run MGB have shut the door on us. There is still time to reach an agreement that protects patient care and respects nurses. MGB needs to come back to the table and negotiate without preconditions.”

— Kelly Morgan, chair of the Brigham bargaining committee, announcing that 4,000 nurses at MGB plan to start their open-ended strike on Wednesday, Oct. 14 unless a contract deal is reached.
“We take seriously the union’s decision to issue a strike notice and are fully prepared to continue providing safe, high-quality care for our patients throughout a strike. While we had hoped to avoid another strike, our teams have comprehensive plans in place, informed by our experience during the five-day work stoppage in July, to support continuity of care across Brigham and Women’s Hospital.”
— MGB spokesperson Jessica Pastore.
“For ten years, we’ve listened closely to people living this experience. They’ve told us, time and again, that support needs to be there around the clock. What we’re offering now is a direct response to what they’ve asked for. It doesn’t replace the helpline — it extends it, so people feel supported whenever they need us.”
— Victor Ortiz, director of the Office of Problem Gambling Services, commenting on a new mobile app for those seeking help for problem gambling.
“If he’d taken that million dollars that he gave to the president and used it to to buy oil at the Strait of Hormuz and given it to the state, we would have been better off.”
—House Speaker Ron Mariano criticizing Republican Mike Monogue, the Republican candidate for governor, for his past donations to President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee.
“It makes sense to support nuclear energy, and although it comes with a price, our study from earlier this year shows that New Englanders would still save between $400 billion and $700 billion by replacing planned wind and solar with a combination of nuclear and natural gas.”
—Paul Craney, executive director of the Mass Fiscal Alliance.