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Strike averted at University of Michigan Health-Sparrow, contract vote pending

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LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A threatened strike involving nearly 2,000 nurses and other healthcare workers at University of Michigan Health-Sparrow in mid-Michigan has been averted.

The members of Professional Employee Council of Sparrow Hospital-Michigan Nurses Association had been working without a contract since Oct. 20. The members later voted to authorize the bargaining team to call a five-day strike; to begin Jan. 20.  

Pickets were announced for outside the main hospital on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing, the Sparrow Health Center on East Grand River Avenue in Lansing and the Okemos Emergency Center on Jolly Road in Okemos. 

But early Thursday, the union announced that an agreement in principle had been reached. 

Contract ratification voting by the members of PECSH-MNA is scheduled from Jan. 20-23 at selected locations. The union also will host online informational meetings for its members on Sunday. 

The contract disputes included wages, health care costs and working conditions. The union also had filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that UMH-Sparrow officials "failed to bargain in good faith." 

This is the first contract negotiation between the PECSH-MNA and University of Michigan Health since U-M Health purchased the Sparrow health system in 2023. 

U-M Health Sparrow is mid-Michigan's largest health system. 

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