Corewell nurses on verge of unionizing with vote coming in November

Corewell Health nurses approach voting period to unionize

Last month the nurses filed with the National Labor Relations Board to call a vote to unionize. That vote takes place in November.

FOX 2 - Nurses at the largest health system in Michigan are preparing to vote on unionizing.

"We thought once we were done with Covid, because of the sacrifice and doing a lot of things that put us and our families at risk, that we’d be more recognized," said Rebecca Smola, RN, Corewell Health Dearborn.

But many nurses at Corewell Health say they’re still waiting on that recognition

"And some things have gotten worse and that was kind of the time when I felt a union was appropriate," Smola said.

Smola and a portion of Corewell nurses are working to unionize, which would cap the efforts that started back last October.

"We had the merger happen with Spectrum Hospital on the west side of the state with Beaumont and it became Corewell Health," said Sarah Johnson, clinical nurse, Corewell Health Royal Oak. "That was the moment when I knew that we had to do something.

"This was all about profits and we need to (go back) to patients over profits."

Nurses believe a union would give them a voice and lead to better work conditions.

"Better wages, they want to see better healthcare, better benefits, we don’t have pensions," said Smola.

"We’re sitting here feeling like the skeleton crew expected to do the same work with less," Johnson said. "We’re overworked, we’re underpaid."

Last month the nurses filed with the National Labor Relations Board to call a vote to unionize. That vote takes place in November.

"November 12th through 14th are our election days," Smola said. "I’m hoping we become teamsters we win the election, and then we start working on our contract negotiations."

FOX 2 reached out to Corewell Health for an interview and received a statement which reads:

"We respect our team members’ rights to explore joining a union, however, we believe our ability to provide high quality care to our patients and maintain a positive work environment is best achieved through a direct working relationship with our nurses."

"We just had enough," Johnson said. "We need to stand together and be the checkpoint for that greedy corporation that we call Corewell and need to take care of business."