‘Nurses can do math’: No deal struck after bargaining session with MyMichigan Sault
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (WJMN) — Contract negotiations between union nurses and executives at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault have been punted to next month after planned talks on Thursday did not result in a deal.
On their fourth day of a five-day strike, the nurses, represented by the Michigan Nurses Association, say they handed over their own proposal to hospital management, and that a federal mediator asked both parties for more information.
Bargaining is set to begin again on May 10.
Meanwhile, nurses on the picket line say they “aren’t fooled” by the executives’ previous contract offers, saying they floated so many concessions that nurses would effectively be taking a pay cut.
“Yes, MyMichigan, nurses can do math – and your contract offer doesn’t add up,” said Twyla Niznik, RN. “Our fellow nurses who make up our elected bargaining team have been transparent and kept us updated this whole time. We are behind them 100 percent in rejecting MyMichigan’s weak proposal. MyMichigan executives are misleading the public with numbers that sound good but don’t account for concessions; in my family, for example, we’d have to pay $4,200 more a year just to get health insurance. Their wage offer won’t make up for that at all.”
The negotiation and strike also come as the MNA has filed a number of unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
Our previous stories:
‘When nurses are outside, there’s something wrong inside’: Nurses begin strike at MyMichigan Sault
Nurses picket in the Sault; hospital boss says good offer is on the table. Who’s right?
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