Rochester — Hoisting signs, wearing red shirts and raising their voices, more than 100 registered nurses spent hours picketing outside Henry Ford Rochester Hospital on Monday to start a strike aimed at securing better staff-to-patient ratios and pay.
Members of OPEIU Local 40 planned to strike through Wednesday what they say are unfair labor practices.
Cheryl Herrmann, 60, who has been working at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital since 2011, said she has seen the hospital change ownership three times. She said that when the hospital was run by a smaller business, it cared more about staff and quality patient care.
"It's very disheartening when you see that you cannot provide the level of care that you really want to, to provide the level of compassion that you really want to because there's inadequate resources available," she said.
Henry Ford Health, meanwhile, planned to use contracted nurses at the hospital on W. University Drive to cover those out on strike.
“Henry Ford Health complies with all applicable federal labor strike laws, which take precedence over state statutes, which we also abide by," said Lauren Zakalik, the spokesperson for Henry Ford Health, in a statement to The Detroit News. "We respect our employees’ right to strike; at the same time, it’s crucial for us to engage contracted nursing staff during the strike to ensure patient safety and continuity of medical care."
Leah Derr, a strike organizer, said the union intended to strike for three days but will be on a "two-day lockout" since Henry Ford has temporary nurses Monday through Friday.
OPEIU Local 40 also announced Monday it had asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald to investigate whether the hospital violated the state's law for strikebreakers.
The union said it spells out that companies cannot import workers from out of state to supplement workers on strike without saying their employment is offered in place of employees involved in a labor dispute.
Source: detroitnews.com
