KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Nurses at Ascension Borgess Hospital announced on Tuesday, November 29 that unless a tentative agreement for a new contract is reached soon, they will hold a strike authorization vote.
According to a release from the Michigan Nurses Association, negotiations between nurses and Ascension’s administration are scheduled to resume Thursday, December 1.
RNs say that if a deal is not reached by the end of the week, they will hold a strike authorization vote Monday and Tuesday of next week. During a strike authorization vote, nurses would be voting on whether to empower their bargaining team to call for a strike. A 10-day notice would be given before the beginning of a strike.
Nurses say they are particularly concerned by a series of concessions that Ascension is demanding, including a new requirement forcing nurses to work every other weekend, cuts to retirement benefits that could cost nurses $30,000 or more, and eliminating the right to family or medical leave for part-time nurses and replacing all leave guarantees with policies Ascension’s administration could change at any time.
Additionally, nurses say that despite the raises in the first year of the contract, the wages proposed by Ascension in the following two years fail to include a cost-of-living-adjustment, which could lead to staffing shortages once again.
“It is so sad to see the way in which these corporate executives have made healthcare about the bottom line instead of the patients,” said Jenni Livingston, a nurse at Ascension Borgess and member of the bargaining team. “We need our next contract to move us forward, not dig us even deeper in the hole.”
“We are exhausted. We are fed up. We are done watching our rights be taken away by corporate executives,” said Lori Batzloff, a nurse at Ascension and the president of the local Michigan Nurses Association (MNA). “It’s time for this company to respect its employees and for patients to come before profits. While we are hopeful that negotiations will go well on Thursday, it is important for us to let Ascension know that nurses are prepared to do what it takes.”
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