Similar to last week’s negotiating sessions, Michigan Medicine received additional proposals from MNA/UMPNC this week on various topics including staffing and scheduling, shift and weekend premiums, workload review, and charge nurse guidelines. We have been carefully reviewing these proposals in conjunction with all other compensation and benefits-based proposals because each of them impacts the overall cost of the contract. MNA/UMPNC has indicated that there are other open articles that they will be making proposals with additional cost implications, so we will provide counterproposals after we have an opportunity to review all these articles collectively.

MNA/UMPNC also provided us with a proposal related to workplace safety. David Miller introduced priorities for the health system in the early part of the fiscal year (BASE—Belonging/inclusion, Access, Safety & Quality, Experience), and Safety includes not only patients and families but our employees. The Michigan Medicine Department of Public Safety and Security (DPSS) has implemented many changes over the last several years, aimed at improving the safety of our nurses, but we recognize that it is a partnership between our security team and nurses. We have reached out to our DPSS team for thoughts on the union’s proposal and will incorporate their input as we look to move forward.

Michigan Medicine’s goal is to have a final tentative agreement by the end of May, providing MNA/UMPNC a month to share the agreement with their members for ratification prior to expiration of the current contract on June 30, 2022. In support of that goal, we have asked MNA/UMPNC to meet five days per week during the next two weeks to negotiate all open proposals on the table and work toward a final agreement.

In the meantime, we have been spending time this week, and throughout negotiations, reviewing the proposals alongside important benchmarking and costing data that will help inform future counterproposals. Our hope is to have all open articles available for negotiating by the end of next week so we can work with MNA/UMPNC to reach a final tentative agreement for consideration by their members.