Averting a Crisis: Sparrow Hospital Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Dexter Baker, a seasoned operating room nurse at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, emerged from intense negotiations feeling both weary and invigorated. After nearly two decades of service, Baker described the journey to a tentative agreement with the hospital as “a long road.”
This pivotal three-year agreement, pending ratification by union members, has effectively halted a five-day strike that was slated to commence on January 20. An overwhelming 98% of the 2,000 nurses and healthcare professionals had cast their votes in favor of authorizing the strike.
“We really appreciate the community’s backing during this time, I know this may have been a little nerve wracking for them as well with the announcement of our strike,” expressed Baker, who is also the elected co-chair of the bargaining team.
The Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association (PECSH-MNA) had previously organized a spirited informational picket, drawing nearly 1,000 participants last fall after their contract expired on October 30.
A spokesperson from the University of Michigan-Sparrow stated, “We are grateful to both bargaining teams, who have worked tirelessly since August to reach an agreement that best supports our nurses and health care professionals and our mission to provide patients with safe, quality care. We are confident this agreement will help to attract and retain top talent across our units and ensure leading wages and benefits for our team members.”
Key issues during the negotiations included healthcare coverage, wage increases, and enhanced benefits for employees affected by workplace violence. Following the University of Michigan’s acquisition of Sparrow in 2023, the hospital announced the discontinuation of the Physicians Health Plan (PHP), which had covered numerous union members.
“PHP was closing and we really wanted to make sure that we could keep affordable health care for our members, as we were all switching to Blue Cross Blue Shield,” Baker noted. “So that was a major win and able to decrease the premium percentage for our members. Another huge sticking point was wages, but again, we were able to fight through and we got our membership an average of anywhere from 20 to 32%.”
This development is crucial for attracting and retaining nurses, particularly amidst ongoing debates about the causes of a nationwide staffing crisis that is affecting patient care.
“You need to be able to recruit staff to come help at your hospital and work side by side with you, and you also have to be able to retain those members that are already working beside you,” Baker emphasized.
This negotiation marks the first contract agreement since University of Michigan Health assumed ownership of Sparrow. “We always say it’s hard to dissect where the phone call goes once they leave the room, but we have familiar faces on the other side of the table. So it was a very professional and good negotiation between PECSH-MNA and Sparrow. And at the end of the day, we were able to get one of the best contracts that we’ve seen,” reflected Baker.
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