FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 
Wednesday, December 6, 2007
       

CONTACT:  Carol Feuss
Michigan Nurses Association
(517) 230-4086
                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                       

DMC Nurses testify about anti-union tactics and inappropriate use of funds before House Labor Committee

Detroit community leaders express anger about diversion
of DMC resources from patient care to anti-union efforts

DETROIT, MI – Nine Registered Nurses from the Detroit Medical Center testified about anti-union tactics and the inappropriate use of public funds before the Michigan House Labor Committee hearing Friday, Nov. 30.  The hearing focused on House Bill No. 4443, which if passed would prohibit the use of public funds for anti-union campaigns. Michigan Nurses Association Director of Government Affairs Ken Fletcher also testified, along with Detroit community leaders.

Nurses recounted multiple examples of DMC efforts to stop the nurses’ campaign to organize a union with the Michigan Nurses Association.  Testimony highlighted e-mail and mail campaigns featuring anti-union literature, lengthy conversations, group meetings and other tactics instigated by managers to express unfavorable opinions about unionization.

Frankie Moore, a lifelong Detroiter and 27-year veteran of Hutzel Hospital, expressed concerns that anti-union activities divert resources from patient care. “Every day we are bombarded with anti-union literature, [and] mandated to attend meetings,” she said. “I would like Mike Duggan to know that the thousands of dollars that are being spent on busting the union would be better spent on patient care.”

Also among those testifying at the hearing was Hutzel Hospital Post Partum Unit RN Ceferina Sharpe. Sharpe recounted an after-hours meeting called by her manager this fall. “The meeting was for the sole purpose of talking against the union,” she said.

Sharpe continued: “What price is DMC paying for busting the union?  How many nurses will be retaliated against, how many more nurses will be intimidated or harassed?  How much of my tax money is being spent to subsidize the DMC fight against the nurses? How much of your money will continue to be spent fighting me and my belief that as a nurse at the DMC I deserve a voice?”

State Representative Fred Miller, chairman of the House Labor Committee, presided over the hearing. According to Miller, HB 4443 will remain on the Committee agenda until it moves to the full House for a vote.

The next step in the Michigan Nurses Association campaign to win a Fair Election Agreement for DMC nurses will be a rally in celebration of International Human Rights Day scheduled to take place from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 outside of Hutzel Hospital in Detroit.  The featured speaker will be Fr. John Rausch, coordinator for the Commission on Peace and Justice of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Ky.

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The Michigan Nurses Association is the largest, most effective union for RNs in Michigan. As the voice of all registered nurses in Michigan, MNA advocates for nurses and their patients at the State Capitol, in the community and at the bargaining table.  MNA is a constituent member of the United American Nurses and the American Nurses Association and an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

*Note: Transcriptions of hearing testimony and photos from the hearing are available upon request.

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