After three months of bargaining, nurses at MyMichigan Alma have voted to authorize a strike.
Stevie Avey is an ICU nurse and a union member. She said nurses in the emergency department feel overwhelmed because of what they call unsafe staffing ratios.
Even with stressful conditions, she said it was a tough decision to vote for a strike.
“It's hard because it is a rural hospital," Avey said. "It’s kind of that mentality of family, we all know each other, we’re all with each other for a big part of our lives. And it’s really hard when we’re not in agreeance.”
Avey said the union is waiting for the next bargaining session on February 1 before they schedule a strike.
"I really don’t know if it will be enough—just the vote. I hope it is. None of the nurses want to strike. We didn’t even want to get to this point. It makes us really sad that we are in such different agreeance," she said.
MyMichigan Alma said they will comment on the strike vote later today.
Nurses at McLaren Central in Mount Pleasant have also voted to authorize a strike. In 2021, three other Michigan hospitals had nurses authorize strikes, but an agreement was reached before they walked out.