Members of the Michigan Nurses Association are accusing the University of Michigan of unlawfully refusing to negotiate over nurses' workloads in its bargaining with the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council.
The union, an affiliate of National Nurses United and AFL-CIO, represents about 13,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in Michigan, including workers employed by the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan regents hold the contract with the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, the largest bargaining unit of the Michigan Nurses Association.
A total of 6,200 University of Michigan Health nurses have been working without a new contract since July 1, and they are working under the terms of the expired agreement, according to hospital and union statements. The University of Michigan Health, the clinical division of Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine, told Becker's in a statement that during negotiations, it has offered a 21 percent base pay increase for nurses over the life of the contract, as well as a new salary step program for nurse practitioners and the safe elimination of mandatory overtime.
The union contends the University of Michigan has refused to bargain over safe workloads regarding the number of patients assigned per nurse, which it says is tied directly to nurses' patient safety concerns. As a result, it filed a lawsuit Aug. 15 in the Michigan Court of Claims.
"When nurses are forced to take care of too many people at once, patient care gets compromised and nurses are put in danger of injury or burnout, and that's happening far too often at our hospital," said Renee Curtis, RN, president of the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, said in a news release.
"University of Michigan Health makes staffing determinations with patient safety at the forefront of its decisions, and this has produced outstanding safety results," the health system said in its statement. "The health system continuously receives recognition as Michigan's safest hospital with recent recognitions by top agencies."
University of Michigan Health also said it "plans to vigorously defend itself" against the union lawsuit.