Nurses at McLaren Greater Lansing took their fight for a new contract to the streets Wednesday.

The nurses, as well as their representatives at their union, Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 459 say compensation and staffing levels are the hangups in negotiations. Jeffrey Flemming, OPEIU’s lead negotiator for the nurses, says because of low staffing levels, the hospital is requiring nurses to work overtime.

“Nurses are having to work 16 hour shifts, in some cases day, after day, after day,” he said.

Which Linda Olin, a Registered Nurse at McLaren Greater Lansing, says negatively impacts patient care.

THURSDAY, June 27 — The nurses could be heard yesterday at the top of the hill from McLaren Orthopedic Hospital, from the sound of passing cars blaring their horns on Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Beep-beep-a-beep-beep, Lansing’s still a union town!”

About 20 nurses rallied with picket signs at the smaller McLaren speciality hospital and another 100 crowded the sidewalk on Greenlawn Avenue in front of the larger hospital a mile and a half away. 

The picket was not a strike but a reminder to the community that they’ve been working without a contract for almost a year. Their representatives say not enough nurses are staffed at any one time and the ones that are working are being forced to pull too much overtime. 

While they’re on-board with three 12-hour shifts a week, many of the nurses are being told to come in on their days off or pull 16-hour days.

Little Rock, Ark. (Jan. 15, 2019) – OPEIU Local 22 registered nurses employed at CHI St. Vincent are expressing outrage over the announcement that the labor and delivery and NCIU – originally slated for closing on March 1 – will now close by early February.

“The hard-working nurses who staff the L&D unit are still reeling from the announcement that the 130-year-old unit would be closing on March 1 – the reason for which we still haven’t been told – and now we find out the unit will close even sooner,” said Paige Yates, RN, president of Local 22. “This rush to close leaves our community and the families who depend on the labor and delivery unit, including the many inductions and caesarean births already scheduled for the coming months, in an extremely vulnerable position.”