KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Ascension Borgess nurses could go on strike if a deal isn’t reached with the health system by the end of the week.
For Ashley Daniels, a labor and delivery nurse, it’s not just about coming up with a new contract. It all boils down to respect.
After giving everything to the hospital, she wants a contract that reflects what the nurses deserve.
“I don’t want to be a nurse anywhere else,” Daniels told FOX 17. “ I was born here at Borgess, so that's what brought me to become a Borgess nurse.”
The hospital has always been her first choice. However, she is concerned about her future with the health system.
“Ascension is demanding some pretty serious takeaways to our contract language,” she said.
The Nurses’ Union lists several items they say Ascension wants in the new contract, specifically:
- A new requirement forcing nurses to work every other weekend
- Cuts to retirement benefits that could cost nurses $30,000 or more
- An elimination of the right to family or medical leave for part-time nurses -- and the potential to replace all leave guarantees with policies Ascension’s administration could change at any time
“That really, you know, make us feel like we went from heroes three years ago to now zeros,” she said.
She told FOX 17 she felt like the demands don’t reflect the praise they received while working during the pandemic, or the amount of time and effort nurses gave to the hospital.
“The nurses that were able to come in work, we were working long hours, we were working multiple, multiple days a week, you know, above and beyond our normal scheduled hours,” Daniels said.
Between the proposed contract changes and the health system not raising their wages, she doesn’t feel valued.
“Now the pandemic is over, but yet, we are still short staffed. And that is what our bargaining team is trying to fight for right now, is to get a contract that will help to recruit and retain nurses,” she said.
If an agreement is not made between the bargaining team and Ascension executives, they will hold a strike authorization vote early next week.
READ MORE: Ascension Borgess nurses to hold strike vote if no deal reached
