The Michigan Nurses Association, the state’s largest healthcare union, announced Thursday that nurses at McLaren Lapeer Region Hospital would soon be going on strike, making the unanimous decision over two days of voting this week.
The strike authorization vote was held Tuesday, May 30th and Wednesday, May 31st, with hospital president and CEO Tim Vargas saying in a statement that the administration was unsurprised, saying that the union authorizing a strike was expected. In his statement, he claimed that the union “has commonly resorted to such tactics to try to pressure other hospitals in almost every negotiation it has engaged in over the last several years.”
He went on to say that the strike is “unnecessary” for a deal to be made, as “[t]he hospital has signaled its willingness to enhance wages, staffing, and practice processes without any job actions, and is not asking for concessions from the union.”
Negotiations have been ongoing since March, with contracts for the approximately 250 nurses at McLaren Lapeer expiring May 9. Nurses say in that contract, there was no limit to the nurse to patient ratio, which ultimately had a negative impact on patient care. They’re now calling for a new contract that sets clear guidelines for safe patient-to-nurse ratios, as well as an improved compensation package.
Nurses representatives met with McLaren officials Thursday, May 25, for further negotiations, with Vargas saying that negotiations would resume next Monday, June 5, and continue through the next two weeks, on June 7, 13 and 15.
