Contact: Lisa Harrison, Esq.
Michigan Nurses Association
517/349-5640 x38 or (cell) 517/927-6344
lisa.harrison@minurses.org
OR
Carol Feuss , MA
Labor Communications Specialist
Michigan Nurses Association
517/349-5640, ext. 21 or (cell) 517/230-4086
carol.feuss@minurses.org
July 10, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Negotiations stall at Lenawee Health Alliance
Registered Nurses Authorize a Strike
Adrian , MI - Negotiations between the Lenawee Health Alliance and the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) stalled on June 30, the day their contract expired. Frustrated, the RNs voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
This means that at any time the Michigan Nurses Association can serve Management with a ten-day advance notice of intent to strike.
"We would prefer not to strike," said Shar
Anderson, RN and Staff Council Chairperson of the
LHA Registered Nurses Association. "Many of us have
been here for twenty years or more and we love caring
for our friends and neighbors. We're part of this
community. But we also have to provide for our families
and there's only so much we can take."
"The overwhelming response to the vote speaks loudly
to the memberships' solidarity and desire for a
fair contract. Hopefully management will now begin
to take the nurses more seriously." said William
Schmidt, RN and a member of the negotiating team.
"Management is proposing severe reductions to health insurance benefits and paid leave. These reductions are un reasonable and show a complete lack of respect for the nurses. They will affect the Hospital's ability to compete for qualified staff, and therefore have consequences for the patients as well as nurses'" stated Lisa Harrison, chief negotiator for the Union .
Proposed changes to the nurses' health care benefits come just a year after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the Association's favor on the subject of health insurance. The Hospital had tried to change the nurses' health insurance benefits unilaterally; the Association arbitrated the change and won. The Hospital then appealed the decision to the federal courts and the Association won at each stage up to the Sixth Circuit. "I believe that the changes proposed have more to do with a bruised ego than any financial concerns," says Harrison .
MNA has been trying to negotiate a contract that would recruit and retain nurses by offering competitive salaries, maintaining benefits, and addressing concerns regarding retirement.
Members last Thursday were angered when they learned of the Hospital's attempt to reduce the amount of paid leave available to nurses hired after 1995, as well as imposing caps on the accrual rate of paid leave for all nurses. "We take care of ill patients everyday and have committed our lives to doing so. Now the Hospital does not want us to care for ourselves. This is insensitive and shows a lack of appreciation for the work we do," said Anderson .
Talks are scheduled to resume at the end of July. However, the Association will be speaking with mediators and legal counsel over the course of the next week to determine its next steps. If further negotiations are not successful and a work stoppage is called, the Association would issue a ten day "intent to strike" notice which would enable the Hospital to make alternative arrangement to move critical patients, delay elective surgeries, etc.
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The Michigan Nurses Association, nurses' voice for 100 years, is the largest nurses' union in the State of Michigan . The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) promotes the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, fosters high standards of nursing practice, and lobbies the legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and recipients of nursing services. MNA is a constituent member of the American Nurses Association and the United American Nurses, as well as an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.
