Nurses and health care professionals have reached a tentative agreement with UMH-Sparrow, narrowly averting a strike next week.
The Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association (PECSH-MNA) threatened to strike next Monday if an agreement could not be reached.
Nurses with UMH-Sparrow have been without a contract since October.
Co-chair of PECSH-MNA's bargaining team Dexter Baker says sticking points included affordable healthcare, competitive pay raises and safe working conditions.
“We had a long day of negotiating yesterday. We went for about 18 hours, so much back and forth. But we were able to get one of the best contracts as far as agreement in principle, we’ve seen here at PESCH-MNA.”
The union leveraged a 20-32% raise for members in addition to a decrease in insurance premiums. They were also able to retain COVID protection for nurses.
The agreement is expected to be ratified next week.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org