Hello!!
We are a group of registered nurses who have been working for several months to organize a union at St John. You're receiving this email because you are a registered nurse at St John and you've expressed support for forming a union here at our hospital. We figured it was time to reach out with something a little more concrete to keep everyone updated as to what’s been going on. It’s great to know so many of us want better working conditions, a safer place for our patients, and to pave the way for the future of our profession at St John.
We are in the process of organizing to become a registered union of nurses and part of the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA). If we, the nurses at St John, want to unionize, then we, the nurses at St John, must step up and do the work. Our persistence in reaching out to people to get more of you involved is to make this a strong union and ensure this effort keeps moving forward. The union is each one of us and will truly be nurse-led from the bottom up. The MNA will be there with us every step of the way with trained staff to help us organize, bargain, and enforce our contract, but it will be a group of our nurses who we elect that will go to the bargaining table to negotiate that agreement. The MNA can't make this happen without us. We will be hosting two Zoom meetings next Wednesday, March 13th. Details are at the end of this email.
Right now, we need more people to step up to keep this going. Reply to this email or go to https://www.cognitoforms.com/mna1/stjohnszoomopenhouse/ and let us know you’re interested and we will reach out to you about next steps. Make sure we have your mobile number if you prefer to receive text updates.
We anticipate Ascension will stop at nothing to halt our progress. They are already spending money on a union busting firm called Littler Mendleson to train our managers in union busting tactics. We have also heard that Henry Ford execs have pledged to spare no expense to ensure we don’t have a voice at our hospital. So take note of the anti-union flyers they put up in our break rooms or pass out to us. Is your manager constantly asking you how things are going and suddenly seeming to care a lot more? Is someone suddenly offering to cover your breaks? Has staffing been adjusted somehow after months and months of it being completely unsafe and unacceptable? These are all things administration is directing managers to do in an effort to convince us that they can fix things. As we continue organizing and our support grows, we can expect even more pushback from administration like holding “captive audience” meetings, pulling us into a one-on-one "meeting" with administration, and even flat out asking us if we support unions (which is against the law).
There are a few very small things you can do right now that will make a huge difference. Talk with your co-workers and figure out who is interested and who isn't. We need to make sure that everyone is getting the information they need in order to make an informed decision. You CANNOT get fired for talking about unions. While we can't be actively recruiting and holding meetings during paid working hours.... it’s fair game on your breaks, in the cafeteria, at the coffee shop, etc. If you can talk about the Detroit Lions in conversations, you can talk about unions. It's appalling that administration will make you feel that much fear over a simple word. Don't let them have that power over you.
We are currently still at the step of making contacts on all the units and speaking with all the nurses in the hospital so we can gauge our support. To file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) we need a minimum of 30% of all St John RNs to sign a union support card. But if we only file with 30% support Ascension will see us as weak and will have no problem squashing us. We need to know we have the support of 70% of all St John RNs BEFORE we start signing the cards to trigger an election. The good news is that we have talked to about 35% of all the nurses and an overwhelming majority of those we’ve talked to support forming a union! We have been working diligently to try and reach out to as many people as we can (many of you have probably been awkwardly approached by one of us just trying to make casual conversation and make new connections). It's hard work, but necessary work. We all have busy lives. We all have families. We all have a lot going on. But many hands make light work. There are about 20 of us trying to meet and talk with over 1000 people. That's why it's going so slow and may seem like not a lot is happening, but we are talking to people every day.
We need more people to join the organizing committee. It's critical to have contacts all over the hospital so we know what's important to each unit. Being on the organizing committee is a great way to keep up on things and help make decisions that guide our effort. If we have a few people from every unit involved, information would be able to reach everyone and this process would move much faster.
We're always open to suggestions. If you have any ideas, comments, or would like to set up a meeting for just your unit - please reach out. It's so much better when we're all working together to make this better.
We will be holding a Town Hall/Q&A/Open House meeting on MARCH 13th at 1730 and 2000 on Zoom to update everyone and answer questions. Please join us and invite your coworkers! The link for both meetings is the same and is posted below. Feel free to share it with your nurse colleagues who would like more information or to get more involved. We hope to see you there!
In solidarity,
Your Nurse-Led Organizing Committee
Zoom link for both Open House meetings (530p and 8p) on March 13th
Meeting ID: 881 0146 8018