Three Rivers Health nurses hold informational picket
After working nearly two months without a contract, nurses from Three Rivers Health-Beacon Health Systems decided Tuesday would be a good day to bring some visibility to their plight.
More than 50 nurses, and a number of family members and supporters staged a 90-minute picket outside the West Broadway Street facility. Emergency Department nurse Brandy Shoup, president of the local Michigan Nurses Union, said contract negotiations are not set to resume until next month.
Shoup said not only is the lack of a contract troubling, but, she alleges, Beacon continues to make greater demands of its nurses without giving consideration to their well-being.
“We’ve been working through the pandemic and everything was rough, of course, we were just doing what we had to do to get by,” she said. “Beacon came in with big promises, we started negotiating our contract in mid-February and now we don’t go back (to negotiating) until June 7.”
Shoup, a registered nurse who has worked at the hospital for more than five years, said Tuesday’s event was as much to show solidarity as it was to promote camaraderie amongst the hospital’s staff of about 80 nurses. What are they seeking? According to Shoup:
Fair and appropriate compensation.
Limits on the amount of mandated overtime hours.
Adequate staffing.
The most-recent contract, which expired March 31, covered a three-year period. Shoup said the union is once again seeking a three-year agreement.
Shoup and other employees said they don’t feel their requests are out of line. She said Beacon has posted job offers to recent graduates and is offering up to $50 an hour, plus paying off student loans and covering relocation costs.
“Our nurses that have been here for 20 years don’t even make that,” she said.
The Journal was unsuccessful late Tuesday afternoon in reaching Hope Bailey, vice president of nursing at the Three Rivers facility.
Julie Olson, a registered nurse and union vice president, said Tuesday’s picket – which drew countless horn honks from drivers of passing vehicles – created anxiety for some nurses, fearing repercussions for their participation in the event.
“But at the same time, we know that if we don’t fight for Beacon to invest in the nurses to keep its nurses here, we won’t have a community hospital in Three Rivers,” said Olson, a 10-year employee. “I’ve always told people I love Three Rivers Health, my mom worked here when I was little, and for the longest time they took such good care of us. I had a baby here last year; this is where we, St. Joseph County and surrounding areas get medical care. (Three Rivers Health) is a very important part of our community, and we need the nurses to stay and not leave for places like Memorial Hospital in South Bend.”
Olson said she doesn’t want to see the Three Rivers medical center decline in service and reputation as she and her peers saw happen in Sturgis.
“We watched that happen in Sturgis and we were devastated right along with (Sturgis Hospital staff members),” Olson said.
For the sake of clarification, Olson and Shoup said Tuesday’s event was not a strike and participating nurses were off-shift. Patient care they said, was not compromised at any point.
The partnership between Three Rivers Health and Beacon was completed Oct. 4. In a media release announcing the partnership, Beacon Health System was committed to investing more than $20 million over the next five years at Three Rivers Health to improve its facilities and foster its growth.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Three Rivers Health nurses hold informational picket
