ADRIAN, Mich. — The Michigan Nurses Association has voted to ratify their tentative agreement for a new contract with ProMedica at Adrian Hickman Hospital.
The nurses and ProMedica reached the agreement on Jan. 31, a day after a practice strike was held outside of the hospital.
In the agreement, MNA said that ProMedica moved away from its demand to establish a two-tier retirement system. According to the union, nurses will be on a new pay scale that will reach over $50/hour by the end of the three-year contract.
“This is union democracy in action,” said Tracy Webb, a critical care nurse and president of the Michigan Nurses Association local at ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital in Adrian. “ProMedica’s administration tried to tell us what had to be in our contract, but they underestimated the resolve of MNA RNs. Nurses understood that our community needed better than what ProMedica was trying to force us to take. We knew that we couldn’t give up and couldn’t give in. Because we remained united as a union, we were able to win more and protect our future. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together.”
ProMedica released this statement on the ratification of the agreement:
ProMedica Hickman Hospital is pleased that the MNA membership has ratified the contract. The contract underscores our commitment to providing all our employees with fair and market-competitive wages and benefits. It also reflects our long-standing commitment to supporting and promoting a culture of high-quality care and patient safety — both being areas in which the hospital has been regularly recognized as an industry leader.
MNA said that with the new contract, they were also able to "win numerous other gains" including:
- Establishment of an equitable system to place nurses on the wage scale by years of licensure
- Language to limit the cost of healthcare premiums paid by nurses
- Stronger protections limiting the use of mandatory OT
- Establishment of basic health and safety language including the contractual right to PPE and protections against violence in the workplace
- Additional language to assure that assignment despite objection forms to document unsafe staffing submitted by nurses will be properly addressed
With the ratification of the tentative agreement, the new contract takes effect immediately. The union said that approximately 140 nurses are covered under the agreement.
