Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, July 15, 2010 Less than 6 percent of Ascension Health’s 110,000 workers are union members, but apparently that’s 6 percent too many for the country’s largest Catholic health system. Management is on a concerted campaign to bust unions at its hospitals in Michigan, say the Teamsters, the Michigan Nurses Association and their ally Interfaith Worker Justice, a national organization that works with religious leaders. IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo called Ascension’s sins “a fall from grace.” RN Tiffany McDonald, a Teamster, said “the whole culture is gone” at Genesys Medical Center in Grand Blanc near Flint ... Nurses

Interfaith Worker Justice, July 15, 2010 Detroit - Leaders of the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) and its national union, National Nurses United (NNU), expressed their appreciation today to Interfaith Worker Justice for its new report, "Ascension Health: A Fall from Grace." The report from the national religious organization documents labor rights abuses at Ascension Health's Michigan hospitals, including at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where 700 MNA/NNU registered nurses are in an ongoing struggle to secure a new collective bargaining agreement. ... Nurses

Chris Killian, Kalamazoo Gazette, July 14, 2010 Kalamazoo - During contract negotiations with Borgess Medical Center, nurses were threatened with a possible lockout, interrogated about their union activities and told there would be “economic penalties” if the union representing them did not agree to a hospital-proposed contract, according to a formal complaint filed against the hospital by the National Labor Relations Board. The complaint alleges unfair labor practices by the hospital earlier this year when it was in negotiations with the 700-member Borgess Staff Nurse Council and the Michigan Nurses Association, a statewide nurses union representing the council ... National

Hospital rejects settlement with nurses union. Chris Killian, Kalamazoo Gazette, July 13, 2010 Kalamazoo - Barring a last-minute deal between Borgess Medical Center and its nurses union, the National Labor Relations Board is set to file a formal complaint against the hospital within the next few days for unfair labor practices during its negotiations with the Borgess Staff Nurse Council earlier this year. Borgess announced Monday that it had rejected an NLRB proposal to settle the charge, which was made in March by the Michigan Nurses Association, which is representing the council. ... NLRB

WKZO, July 13, 2010 Kalamazoo - The labor tension between Borgess and its Nurses Union has just edged up another notch. Borgess officials were threatened with a citation from the National Labor Relations Board if they rejected the NLRB’s proposed settlement. That’s exactly what they plan to do. The nurses union has accused the hospital of using intimidation tactics in their talks with the union. The hospital has denied those claims, saying the union has been “antagonistic” and they plan to pursue the NLRB’s hearing process to refute their charges. ... Tensions

Lori Roy, RN, Kalamazoo Gazette, April 22, 2010 On April 3, the Kalamazoo Gazette ran an article regarding the contract vote at Borgess Medical Center. The article stated there are 140 nurses who signed a petition for a vote, but it didn’t mention the more than 600 nurses who signed a petition which was presented to Paul Spaude, Borgess CEO, stating nurses wanted to keep staffing ratios, mandatory overtime and the like in the contract. ... Kalamazoo

WWMT, April 7, 2010 Kalamazoo – Nurses and hospital leaders at Borgess Medical Center have still not reached an agreement on a disputed nursing contract. Nurses at Borgess are currently working without a contract. Borgess Health and the Michigan Nurses Association met for the twelfth time on Tuesday, and even with the help of state and federal mediators, they could not reach an agreement. A big sticking point in the negotiations is nurse to patient ratios. The nurses' union says there should be more nurses per patient at the hospital. The two sides will again try to reach an agreement on April 29th. © Copyright 2010 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved.

WWMT, April 7, 2010 Kalamazoo - Negotiators are still trying to work out a new contract for nurses at Borgess Medical Center. Borgess and the Nurses Association started those talks Tuesday. They are trying to hammer out a deal, but so far they can't agree. The big sticking point is the nurse-to-patient ratio. The nurses want fewer patients per nurse. They say it's important for patient safety. The hospital says a set ratio isn't necessary. “I want safe patient care. That's what I stand for, for the union, it's my whole goal to make sure we provide patients here at hospital with safe care,” said nurse Sabrina Luke. Some nurses claim the union is pushing them toward a strike or lock-out. The union denies that, saying it wants an agreement.

Demonstrators back proposal to cut nurse-to-patient ratios. Barbara Wieland, Lansing State Journal, March 25, 2010 About 1,000 nurses and nursing students took their case for a proposed law that would cut nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals to the state Capitol on Wednesday. They marched from the Lansing Center on Michigan Avenue to the Capitol in a rally for House Bill 4008, known as the Safe Patient Care Act. The bill, which has been languishing in the House, would establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and end the use of mandated overtime, is backed by the Michigan Nurses Association ... 1,000

Chris Killian, Kalamazoo Gazette, March 18, 2010 Kalamazoo – The state’s largest nurses union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Borgess Medical Center, citing 13 grievances that include claims hospital management failed to negotiate in good faith and used intimidation during the collective bargaining process with nurses. Borgess, citing ongoing contract negotiations, declined to comment on the allegations. The Michigan Nurses Association, which filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board’s regional office in Detroit on Tuesday, asserted Borgess ... Borgess

Michigan Nurses Association, December 23, 2009 Oakland County – The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA), representing the registered nurses at the Oakland County Public Health Department since 1985, has filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) against the employer. The ULP charges that the Department has engaged in “surface bargaining” by continuously failing to consider MNA’s numerous proposed alternatives. ... ULP

Michigan Nurses Association, November 20, 2009 Manistee – The Registered Nurses at West Shore Medical Center (WSMC) in Manistee, represented by the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) have negotiated a new three-year contract. The contract represents the interests of approximately 70 registered nurses. The RNs will see a 2% increase in wages for each year of the term of the contract with no change in health insurance premiums or benefits. Vacation and sick leave time will be transitioned over the next two years into a Paid Time Off (PTO) system, with completion scheduled for 2011. Improvements were made to holiday scheduling and several minor adjustments were made to the hospital’s internal structure. ... West

Michigan Nurses Association, November 12, 2009 Muskegon – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a certificate approving the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) as the exclusive bargaining representative for the Registered Nurses at Mercy VNS & Hospice (formerly Hackley Visiting Nurse Services & Hospice, Inc.), ending a four-month stand-off with the hospital. “It is ridiculous that this much time and money has spent fighting a decision that both the nurses and the NLRB have approved,” stated John Karebian, MNA Executive Director. ... NLRB

Jay Greene, Crain's Detroit Business, October 2, 2009 The Michigan Nurses Association has appointed John Karebian as its executive director four months after the 10,000-member Okemos-based association withdrew from the American Nurses Association. “It was pretty apparent that the ANA focus was more on management side of nursing,” said Ann Kettering Sincox, chief spokeswoman for the MNA. “They said at their annual meeting they are not interested in labor. We are so heavily represented in labor that we decided to withdraw.” Michigan’s largest nursing group also named Tom Bissonnette as associate executive director of nursing practice. ... Michigan

Mark Ranzemberger, Morning Sun, September 27, 2009 Some unionized nurses at Central Michigan Community Hospital in Mt. Pleasant are disputing wage numbers recently released by the hospital, but the hospital is standing by its numbers. Members of the Central Michigan Community Hospital Registered Nurses Association have been working without a contract since February, and the union, affiliated with the Michigan Nurses Association, has been increasing the pressure on the hospital to get a new contract. The two sides recently have been engaged in a low-key publicity battle, each trying to explain its position in the slow-going talks. The nurses and the hospital last talked in August ... Nurses