Hundreds to participate in Nov. 12 event amid expired contract

LANSING – As University of Michigan Health spends more than $100 million on new buildings in Greater Lansing, Sparrow’s registered nurses and healthcare professionals are questioning how the corporation can find enough staff to provide safe, quality care given current workplace conditions.

The caregivers are advocating for a fair contract to recruit and retain the skilled professionals needed at the main hospital and beyond – and they are taking their concerns to the community with an informational picket on Nov. 12.

This is the first contract that PECSH-MNA has negotiated since University of Michigan Health bought Sparrow for an undisclosed amount in 2023. U of M Health-Sparrow announced plans this year to build a $97 million psychiatric hospital in Lansing and a $32 million health center near Grand Ledge. This is on top of nearly $1 billion U of M Health is spending on a new hospital on its Ann Arbor campus.

Hundreds of PECSH-MNA members and community supporters are expected to line the streets outside the hospital from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12.

“Our community deserves for the University of Michigan to invest in the people providing the care, not just in new buildings,” said Jeff Breslin, RN, president of the Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association (PECSH-MNA). “There is no nursing shortage – there is a shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals willing to work at the wages and in the conditions that Sparrow is offering. Our first priority is recruiting and retaining enough staff so that we can safely take care of every patient at all times, and that won’t happen without competitive pay, affordable healthcare, and a safe workplace.”

PECSH-MNA represents about 2,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in more than 50 categories at Sparrow Hospital. Their union contract expired at midnight Oct. 30. Although PECSH-MNA is committed to reaching a contract and will continue bargaining, the employer has so far offered only:

• Wage increases that don’t even meet the rising cost of living.
• Drastic increases to caregivers’ health care costs, which will put health care out of reach for many.
• No movement on critical measures to protect caregivers, patients, and visitors from violence in the workplace.

PECSH-MNA members say they are grateful for the outpouring of community support they have already received.

“It is outrageous that a hospital is trying to increase costs so much that its own employees will not be able to afford the very care we provide,” said Jackie Walker, BS MT (ASCP), a clinical laboratory scientist who is vice president of PECSH-MNA and a member of the MNA Board of Directors. “We want Sparrow to be a great place to work and to receive care, and University of Michigan Health needs to take our concerns seriously. Sparrow nurses and healthcare professionals are united and ready to do what it takes to get the contract that we and our community need.”

NOTE: This is not a work stoppage. University of Michigan Health-Sparrow nurses and healthcare professionals will be participating on their own time, along with community members and fellow union members from around the state.

The Michigan Nurses Association, which includes the Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital (PECSH-MNA), is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses and healthcare professionals in Michigan. MNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United and AFL-CIO.

CONTACT: Dawn Kettinger or (517) 721-9688