Mid-Michigan nurses union to strike amid call for higher wages, unfair labor practice charge

Thousands of nurses and healthcare professionals at UM Health-Sparrow in Lansing are going on strike this month after three months of working without a union contract.

LANSING—About 2,000 nurses and healthcare professionals at Mid-Michigan’s largest healthcare provider are set to go on a five-day strike this month while their union representatives negotiate with corporate leaders to get them higher wages and better benefits. 

The Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association (PECSH-MNA) on Tuesday provided notice to corporate officials at University of Michigan Health-Sparrow that they intend to conduct a five-day strike beginning on Jan. 20.

The upcoming work stoppage—which is set to conclude on Jan. 25—is designed to serve as a sort of warning shot for hospital administrators, who have reportedly failed to meet the union’s contract demands for fair wages, access to reliable and affordable healthcare insurance coverage, and better safety and security features at its largest hospital in downtown Lansing.

“We’re in this for the long haul. We’re going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our union siblings and fight this good fight,” Jen Ackley, a longtime nurse and member of the PECSH-MNA bargaining team, told The ‘Gander on Wednesday. “Of course, we hope to have a contract before the strike even happens, but we are definitely ready to go to this next step.”

Here’s the deal:

UM Health Sparrow—formerly Sparrow Health System—is the largest healthcare provider in Mid-Michigan, with more than 150 care sites and nearly 500 primary care providers and specialists serving patients across the region, including at its 700-bed hospital in Lansing.

Its stated mission is to “improve the health of the people in our communities by providing quality, compassionate care to every patient, every time.” But in recent years, the health care system has prioritized its profits over the well-being of its own staff and patients, union officials said.

“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 Jan. 20,” Leah Rasch, co-chair of the PECSH-MNA bargaining team, said in a statement. “It is not too much to ask that the University of Michigan, which has billions of dollars in resources, invest in competitive wages and affordable healthcare for the people who provide the care.”

Collective bargaining agreements for about 2,000 PECSH-MNA members expired in October. And despite more than 300 hours of contract negotiations since August, union leaders are still frustrated with what they’ve described as “lackluster” offers from Sparrow’s top executives.

As a result, nearly every union member voted last month to authorize their bargaining team to call a strike with a 10-day notice. And this week, union officials are officially pulling the trigger.

The strike will begin at 7 a.m. Jan. 20 and conclude on the morning of Jan. 25—during which time PECSH-MNA members will be picketing peacefully (until 9 p.m.) outside the main hospital in Lansing, the emergency department in Okemos, and Sparrow Health Center Lansing.

In a statement, union members said they are willing to sacrifice their paychecks to strike because this contract is “so important to them as well as the future of health care in mid-Michigan.” 

What does the union want?

Among PECSH-MNA’s top demands for a new contract: 

• Higher wages for staff, which the union says have been “falling behind” in recent years.
• Access to reliable and affordable healthcare insurance coverage for employees, particularly as the UM Health Plan (formerly Physicians Health Plan) comes to an end without a “clear replacement plan” for about 64,000 people who rely on the insurance. 
• Enhanced safety measures at the entrances to healthcare facilities—particularly at the hospital in downtown Lansing, which often treats people who are injured in shootings.

Union nurses hope that higher wages and better benefits will help attract new employees who, in turn, can fill staffing shortages across the local health care system—which has forced some nurses to take care of more patients and spend less time with each of them.

“The nurses that are working in the ER are taking care of sometimes double the number of patients that they should be taking care of,” Ackley told The ‘Gander last month. “When that happens, you know, you can imagine that they can only get the very bare minimum of me.”

Ackley said that she wants to take care of her patients and give them the very best treatment. But staff shortages at the hospital in Lansing have forced nurses like her to compromise the quality of care they can give—which can also take a personal toll on them as providers.

@gandernewsroom

Union nurses hope that a new contract with higher wages and better benefits will help to attract new healthcare professionals to the Lansing area. But over the last two months, union members have been frustrated with what they describe as lackluster offers from executives at UM Health-Sparrow.

♬ original sound – The Gander

And despite recent progress at the bargaining table, the healthcare system’s latest proposals still haven’t kept up with the cost of living, Ackley told The ‘Gander on Wednesday morning.

What’s at stake?

The UM Health-Sparrow hospital in Lansing is the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, which means it’s uniquely equipped to handle the most severe and complex injuries with 24/7 access to specialized surgeons, comprehensive emergency care, and advanced diagnostic equipment.

Level 1 Trauma Centers are critical for providing life-saving care in emergencies, especially in regions where alternative facilities are far away. The next-closest Level 1 Trauma Center is in Flint or Ann Arbor, more than 50 miles away. 

Union President Jeff Breslin said better wages and benefits will be crucial for ensuring the hospital has the staff to provide adequate care for thousands of patients.

“The hospital is just not filling positions right now. That’s why we have such a big focus on wages and benefits,” Breslin told The ‘Gander last month. “You shouldn’t live in Lansing and have to drive to Ann Arbor to get your healthcare. We’ve got the talent.”

Amid the ongoing contract negotiations, UM Health is investing heavily in infrastructure. 

Since acquiring Sparrow Health System in 2023, UM Health has announced plans for a $97 million psychiatric hospital in Lansing, as well as broken ground on a $32 million health center near Grand Ledge. 

But union members and leaders warn that persistent staffing shortages could undermine these investments, leaving new facilities underutilized if there aren’t enough workers to staff them.

“It’s heartbreaking that we have to go on strike against an employer that seems to have unlimited funds for buildings but is not showing a commitment to investing in the people who actually do the work,” Lindsey Davis, a social worker in behavioral health and a member of the PECSH-MNA bargaining team, said in a statement.

Breslin said the union supports those expansion plans—but only if corporate officials can pony up better wages and benefits for the staff who will work inside those buildings.

“If there’s a brand new building with no staff, how are you going to run that place?” Breslin said. “We just want it to be safe and we want to be able to provide the care that patients deserve.”

Shady Dealing

In addition to calling for higher wages and better benefits, the union has also filed federal unfair labor practice charges against UM-Sparrow that allege a pattern of bad-faith bargaining. 

A complaint filed on Monday with the National Labor Relations Board includes several allegations of hospital executives repeatedly violating federal labor law, including by:

• Interrogating a member about whether they would go on strike if one were called.
• Implementing new job positions without giving notice or bargaining with the union.
• Bargaining while withholding information; specifically, bargaining over health insurance while it is believed they were fully aware that the corporation planned to close the health insurance plan that it bought when it acquired Sparrow, which many employees rely on.
• Illegally polling employees by offering them the chance to sign up for a free T-shirt on the first day of the strike authorization vote.
• Unilaterally modifying terms and conditions of employment under an expired contract.

The National Labor Relations Board is set to investigate the unfair labor practice claims. 

What’s next?

Union members are frustrated by what they’ve described as lackluster offers from Sparrow executives. But the collective bargaining team is still optimistic about making progress as they head into another round of contract negotiations on Jan. 16 and 17, Ackley told The ‘Gander. 

In a statement, officials at UM Health Sparrow said they were “disappointed” to learn that PECSH-MNA members plan to go on strike this month—but they remain “confident” that a new collective bargaining agreement can still be settled with the union over the coming days.

“University of Michigan Health-Sparrow will continue to negotiate in good faith with our valued nurses and health care professionals for a fair contract that meets everyone’s needs while also ensuring our patients receive the highest quality of care,” corporate officials said in a statement. 

With thousands of employees set to go on strike, administrators are also taking steps to ensure that patients will receive the “same safe, leading-edge and compassionate care close to home.”

That could include hiring temporary contract employees, reducing or eliminating certain elective procedures, or transferring patients with the most complex health issues to other facilities—though corporate officials declined to elaborate on their precise plans.

“We take our commitment to the community seriously and have a contingency plan in place for staffing,” corporate officials said in a statement. “We will be fully operational if there is a work stoppage, with safety and quality of care remaining of the utmost importance.”

READ MORE: Thousands of nurses at Mid-Michigan’s largest hospital ready to strike

Don’t miss Michigan’s biggest stories—follow The ‘Gander on X.