MARQUETTE, MI— Nurses at UPHS-Marquette have reached a tentative contract with hospital administration.
Nurses have been bargaining since March. They say the agreement, which was reached Sunday, provides significant gains in wages, addresses staffing concerns, and enables nurses to keep their current health insurance.
The nurses' tentative contract agreement is not final until the union's members vote on it September 4 and 5.
"We are proud of our union solidarity that brought us to the point of reaching a tentative agreement that we can unanimously recommend to our members," said Christina Hanson, RN, president of the RN Staff Council at the hospital. "The community's outpouring of support lifted us up as we focused on making our local hospital even better. We achieved our priorities of competitive wages to attract and retain nurses, as well as strong new staffing language to protect patients. We look forward to ratifying the contract and are standing strong with our MAST colleagues as they continue to bargain with UP Health System."
The nurses' tentative agreement includes:
- Guaranteed wage increases of 18.75% over four years to bolster recruitment and retention at the U.P.'s largest hospital;
- A new joint committee of hospital representatives and union nurses that will review the hospital's staffing plans and address staffing issues;
- Inclusion of staffing in the union's grievance process; and
- Continuation of the nurses' current health insurance.
The Marquette Ancillary Staff and Technologists (MAST) union has also been in negotiations since March but has yet to reach an agreement. It will continue bargaining September 2 and 3, as planned.
Both unions are part of the Michigan Nurses Association.
