Traverse City, MI –Today, 841 nurses at Munson Medical Center will be receiving an additional $500 in their checks as a result of a settlement for a class action grievance reached between the Michigan Nurses Association and Munson Medical Center. MNA RNs at Munson ratified the terms of the settlement on May 20.
“We see this as an important step forward between Munson administrators and unionized nurses,” said Carolyn Moss, a Munson nurse and president of MNA’s local bargaining unit at Munson Medical Center (TCMNA). “This puts words into action.”
The settlement concerned an issue over low census back pay. Nurses allege they were not being appropriately compensated per the terms of their contract when being sent home for low need on scheduled shifts, but later required to return to the hospital and work the remainder of their scheduled shift. In addition to providing back pay, the terms of the settlement additionally strengthened the protections of the nurses’ union contract to not allow for ambiguity in scheduling moving forward.
“At a time when nurses are exhausted and burned out from the pandemic, it is really important for us to feel like our work is valued,” said James Walker, a nurse at Munson Medical Center and TCMNA’s Grievance Chair. “We want to be able to recruit and retain nurses at our hospital so that we can always provide the best quality patient care.”
Munson nurses say that having a strong union contract is key towards achieving that goal. In addition to providing low census protections, the nurses’ union has guaranteed RNs wage increases of approximately 13% over three years. Nurses were also able to negotiate as a union to win important protections during the pandemic that they say could have saved lives – like exempting immunocompromised workers from being required to work with COVID-19 patients.
“The past year has shown that we are stronger when we are united than when we are divided,” said Jason Judd, a nurse at Munson Medical Center and Vice President of TCMNA. “We are proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish collaboratively through negotiations. We want to continue in this direction as we move forward together.”
The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) is the largest, most effective union for RNs across the state. The Traverse City Munson Nurses Association (TCMNA) is MNA’s local bargaining unit at Munson Medical Center, representing the approximately 1000 nurses at Munson Medical Center. MNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United.
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Contact: Amelia Dornbush, 517-896-7478