About 2,000 nurses and caregivers at University of Michigan Health-Sparrow Hospital in Lansing plan to strike later this month.
The union representing the workers announced the plan for a 5-day strike Tuesday night after a bargaining session.
The strike is set to begin the morning of January 20, though the health system said it still hopes to avoid a work stoppage. Bargaining sessions are still scheduled for later next week.
The nurses with the Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association have been working without a contract since the end of October.
In December, union members voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing their representatives to call a strike if deemed necessary. They’re seeking better health care benefits, higher wages and changes to working conditions.
Union members plan to picket outside the Lansing Hospital, the Emergency Department in Okemos and the Sparrow Health Center Lansing on Grand River Avenue.
“Due to the employer’s refusal to bargain a fair contract and their anti-union behavior, we have to draw a line in the sand – and we are united and energized to do that by hitting the pavement on January 20,” Leah Rasch, a registered nurse and co-chair of the PECSH-MNA bargaining team, said in a statement.
A media statement from UM Health-Sparrow said a contingency plan is in place for staffing during the strike.
“It is important to note that while a work stoppage is now a possibility, we remain confident that we can reach an agreement without one,” the statement said.
“We are currently taking steps to ensure that – in the unfortunate event that a work stoppage occurs – patients can still expect to receive the same safe, leading-edge and compassionate care close to home.”
The union has also filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board for what it alleges was bad-faith bargaining.
Those allegations include “interrogating a member about whether they would go on strike if one were called” and “implementing new job positions without giving notice or bargaining with the union.”
University of Michigan Health merged with Sparrow in 2023. This is the first contract the union has negotiated with the hospital’s new administrators.
