Email to Corewell Health East nurses:
As we head into another week of negotiations with the Teamsters, we wanted to provide you with some important information about our ongoing efforts.
Five things you need to know:
Corewell Health is continuing to bargain in good faith, and we want to reach an agreement.
We received over 100 pages with 43 different sections from the Teamsters on Friday, Jan. 23. Some of these proposals are different than the tentative agreements we already have, and others backtrack on language that the Teamsters previously agreed was acceptable. This delays our progress in negotiations and can have legal consequences.
The cost of the Teamsters’ proposals exceeds $2 billion. We will have responses for the Teamsters at our next bargaining sessions, but their proposals are not sustainable and compromises will be needed to reach an agreement.
Talk of a strike is premature as there is still a lot of work to be done to negotiate a contract that our RNs expect and deserve. But because the Teamsters are consistently talking about a strike, Corewell Health must take steps to ensure that we can continue caring for our patients if a strike occurs. This includes seeking replacement nurses, which is necessary to ensure we can continue to care for patients in the event of a strike.
Our goal is to reach an agreement without disrupting patient care. But if the Teamsters call for a strike, every team member has the individual legal right to decide whether to go on strike or continue working. Every nurse who makes that decision is protected from retaliation and will not suffer any negative employment consequences.
Our goal
First, and most importantly, we want to reach an agreement. We are committed to the process and will continue to negotiate in good faith. Our goal is to reach a contract that provides fair and competitive terms for our nurses, while not sacrificing our financial and operational sustainability so we can continue providing exceptional care to our patients.
Collective bargaining
To reach an agreement, collective bargaining requires good faith on both sides. Here are some facts about the collective bargaining process:
It is a negotiation. Collective bargaining is designed for both sides to have an opportunity to present proposals, ask questions and discuss, and work to try and reach an agreement.
It is not meant for one side to make demands and refuse to continue negotiating. The cost of the Teamsters’ proposals exceeds $2 billion. That is not sustainable, and compromises must be made to reach an agreement.
It takes time. Bargaining didn’t start until June and we have only met with the Teamsters 18 times.
It takes an average of 528 days to negotiate a first contract in health care. While that is the average, our Corewell Health East nurse bargaining unit is not average. It compromises around 10,000 RNs in more than 100 different jobs working at eight hospitals, along with other locations.
For comparison, the Teamsters and Henry Ford have had 70+ negotiation sessions, and that’s for a renewal agreement (not a first contract) and a much smaller bargaining unit.
Details matter. The Teamsters finally provided us with their full proposals on Jan 23. This is a 100+ page document with 43 different sections. We are closely reviewing the full package and preparing our responses, but it is important for everyone that we get it right, not just move fast.
We are committed to the process. We have five bargaining dates set with the Teamsters in February and have proposed more dates in March, which they have not yet accepted.
Next steps and resources
We are continuing to negotiate in good faith with the Teamsters, but because they have announced a strike authorization vote, we have an obligation to our patients, team members and community to prepare for a potential work stoppage.
As we take steps to ensure we can continue providing safe care for our patients, you may hear that Corewell Health is seeking replacement nurses. Please know that this search is out of necessity to ensure that we can continue providing patient care without disruption.
While our hope is to reach an agreement and avoid any work stoppage, many of you have raised questions about how a potential strike will impact you. We are working to gather as much information as we can and have developed these FAQs, which will continue to be updated as we learn more.
Please continue to share questions with your manager and we will work to provide you with answers so you can consider all options when voting in the strike authorization process.
We will share more information with you directly as negotiations progress, and updates will be posted on chnegotiations.org.