LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Registered nurses with the Skilled Worker Council of Sparrow Hospital (PECSH)/Michigan Nurses Affiliation are actually working with no contract after the earlier one expired in a single day.
A College of Michigan Well being-Sparrow spokesman tells 6 Information that whereas the contract expired at midnight final evening, everybody continues to be working. The spokesman added that sufferers and the neighborhood would not see any change and there are negotiation classes scheduled all through November.
College of Michigan Well being-Sparrow is working in good religion with our colleagues from the Skilled Worker Council of Sparrow Hospital (PECSH)/Michigan Nurses Affiliation to barter a good contract for workforce members on this bargaining unit.We stay optimistic about reaching an settlement with PECSH-MNA and have bargaining classes scheduled all through November. State and federal mediators have joined the discussions.Our nurses and well being care professionals are important to defending the well being of our communities and the way forward for this well being system. We perceive the urgency and the significance of a contract that meets everybody’s wants, whereas additionally making certain our sufferers obtain the absolute best care. We hope to emerge from these negotiations with a stronger relationship and a collective dedication to constructing a greater future for our well being system and our neighborhood.
College of Michigan Well being-Sparrow
The Michigan Nurses Affiliation (MNA) tells 6 Information the nurses will proceed working however there shall be an informational picket on Nov. 12.
In keeping with the MNA, round 2,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals are represented by the Skilled Worker Council of Sparrow Hospital, which is a part of the Michigan Nurses Affiliation (PECSH-MNA).
PECSH-MNA tells 6 Information that is the primary time it has negotiated a contract because the College of Michigan Well being purchased Sparrow. In a information launch, the affiliation additionally identified “U of M Health-Sparrow announced plans this year to build a $97 million psychiatric hospital in Lansing and a $32 million health center near Grand Ledge.”
“Our community deserves for the University of Michigan to invest in the people providing the care, not just in new buildings,” stated Jeff Breslin, RN, president of the Skilled Worker Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Affiliation (PECSH-MNA). “There is no nursing shortage – there is a shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals willing to work at the wages and in the conditions that Sparrow is offering. Our first priority is recruiting and retaining enough staff so that we can safely take care of every patient at all times, and that won’t happen without competitive pay, affordable healthcare, and a safe workplace.”
Within the information launch, PECSH-MNA informed 6 Information that to date U-M Well being-Sparrow has provided:
“Wage increases that don’t even meet the rising cost of living.”
“Drastic increases to caregivers’ health care costs, which will put health care out of reach for many.”
“No movement on critical measures to protect caregivers, patients, and visitors from violence in the workplace.”
In keeping with an informational poster put out by the union, its members desire a contract with “competitive wages, health insurance they can afford and a safe workplace.”
“It is outrageous that a hospital is trying to increase costs so much that its own employees will not be able to afford the very care we provide,” stated Jackie Walker, BS MT (ASCP), a medical laboratory scientist who’s vp of PECSH-MNA and a member of the MNA Board of Administrators. “We want Sparrow to be a great place to work and to receive care, and University of Michigan Health needs to take our concerns seriously. Sparrow nurses and healthcare professionals are united and ready to do what it takes to get the contract that we and our community need.”
