More than 9,600 nurses at Corewell Health East, part of Corewell Health in southeast Michigan, are eligible to vote in what is believed to be one of the largest union elections in recent history.
Nurses at Corewell Health East are scheduled to vote on union representation by Nurses for Nurses, a committee of Michigan Teamsters Joint Council No. 43, from Nov. 12-14, with voting sites at hospitals and facilities in Dearborn, Farmington Hills, Grosse Pointe, Royal Oak, Taylor, Trenton, Troy, Wayne and Southfield, National Labor Relations Board spokesperson Kayla Blado told Becker's. Corewell Health East includes eight hospitals.
"This is one of the largest petitions for an election in recent history," Ms. Blado said of the Corewell Health East initiative. "For context, Amazon in Bessemer, Ala., was around 6,000, Amazon in Staten Island was around 8,300, Mercedes in Alabama was 5,200."
Eligible voters include full-time and regular part-time registered nurse employees, including casual nurses, contingent nurses, flex nurses and charge nurses.
Among the issues nurses are seeking to address through union representation include safe staffing ratios, fair pay, a benefits package that reflects their essential role in the community, and a steady, reliable retirement plan, according to Teamsters Joint Council No. 43 in a Sept. 27 Facebook post.
Union officials added that nurses also seek "grievance mechanisms that will protect both their professional licenses and their rights as workers. … [T]hey are demanding a voice in the day-to-day decisions that affect patient care."
Mark Geary, senior director of communications at Corewell Health, shared the following statement with Becker's on Oct. 23: "We respect our team members’ rights to explore joining a union, however, we believe our ability to provide high quality care to our patients and maintain a positive work environment is best achieved through a direct working relationship with our nurses."
The election follows a petition filed with the NLRB in September. According to its website, the NLRB will conduct an election if at least 30% of workers sign cards or a petition indicating their support for unionization. Workers would then vote on whether to unionize.