![\"\"](\"https:\/\/peoplesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nurses-strike-Teamsters-Michigan-340x190.png\")
<\/p><\/p>
DETROIT\u2014On West Grand Boulevard, two hospitals sit side by side, both owned by the Henry Ford Health system. The newly constructed facility, nearing a price tag of $3 billion, towers over the old. It\u2019s a picture Henry Ford Health would like to use as a symbol of progress and a future of high-tech, high-profit medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n But the informational pickets held by the nurses of Teamsters Local 332 tell a different story.<\/span><\/p>\n For over eight months, these nurses have been on an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike\u2014one of the longest in Michigan history. Since Labor Day, more than 700 nurses and caseworkers have been on strike, demanding safe staffing ratios, fair wages, and an end to what they call the hospital system\u2019s union-busting tactics.<\/span><\/p>\n After taking their message all the way to Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, Local 332 and their allies have set up informational pickets elsewhere, including right here in front of Henry Ford\u2019s main Detroit hospital. But despite the strike’s length, many in the community\u2014and across the state\u2014remain misinformed. Local 332 and its allies are determined to change that.<\/span><\/p>\n On May 26, Local 332 released a direct letter to Mr. Rob Riney, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health Systems.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud of the care we have given and the reputation we helped build. This is why this strike has been so heartbreaking,\u201d they wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond a long list of ULP charges\u2014the most recent filed as recently as May 13\u2014the nurses say the environment leading up to the strike was stacked with grievances stemming from poor management.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe feel that leadership, particularly nursing leadership, has become disconnected from the bedside nurses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The letter even revealed that, \u201cMany nurses did not even know who the Chief Nursing Officer was until we went on strike.\u201d It ends with a good-faith plea: \u201cHelp us build a better healthcare system together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The context for that plea is stark. In the two years since taking over the hospital, Henry Ford Health has raked in over $1 billion in net revenue while simultaneously pleading \u201cbroke\u201d at the bargaining table. As the Teamsters have documented, the system\u2019s leadership has spent vast sums hiring scab replacement nurses for over $100 an hour while refusing to offer their own workers a fair contract.<\/span><\/p>\n On May 27, Local 332\u2014along with other Teamster locals and community allies\u2014was met with heightened security from both police and hospital security. This was their fourth informational picket, yet despite the letter and their ongoing presence, Henry Ford would not allow vital information to even enter the building.<\/span><\/p>\n Rank-and-file nurses and this reporter witnessed a man enter the hospital premises carrying a flyer. Once inside, he was stopped by security. Despite the bystander\u2019s attempts to compromise, he was turned back. He exited and informed the nurses that the flyer could not enter the building. He returned the flyer to them, showed it to the security guard, and was only then allowed to walk back in.<\/span><\/p>\n The truth of this strike is there for any worker and community member to see. All they have to do is walk up and ask. The nurses shared stories that illustrate the union difference\u2014and why labor education is vital.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey just need to know we are not here to be their enemy,\u201d Kelly Schuster, a nurse who has worked at the hospital for 21 years, told <\/span>People\u2019s World<\/span><\/i>. \u201cWe just want to have a fair deal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The flyers from the informational picket reflected the nurses\u2019 reality. As Schuster reiterated, they are out there because of unsafe patient-to-nurse ratios. She wants her job back\u2014but on terms that are \u201creasonable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is not possible to care for 8 or 10\u202612 patients in certain cases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The union provides an avenue with \u201cobjection to assignment,\u201d but Schuster noted that nurses always take the assignment, no matter the consequences. \u201cWe get blamed for everything,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Tanya Lalko, another rank-and-file nurse who has been an RN for 20 years, described the union difference to <\/span>People\u2019s World<\/span><\/i>: \u201cWith a union, we have representation\u2026we can always ask for a union steward to be there with us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Like Schuster, Lalko was burdened by impossible patient loads. \u201cI was personally 10 and one,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n She then explained the avalanche of daily tasks: \u201cI had seven people with blood sugars. I had somebody in restraints. I had to call the nurse manager three times. I had security down there three or four times. You know, blood sugars, meds, IVs. It\u2019s just not safe. It\u2019s not manageable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Both Lalko and Schuster always took the assignment, determined to do their best for their patients and their coworkers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was me and one other RN on that unit,\u201d Lalko said. \u201cI can\u2019t leave her with 20 patients.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n We hope you appreciated this article. At\u00a0People\u2019s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading\u00a0People\u2019s World\u00a0and the stories we bring you, please\u00a0support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today<\/a>. Thank you!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/peoplesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3176-260x346.jpeg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/peoplesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8506-260x346.jpeg\")
\r\n
Source link peoplesworld.org<\/a>\r\n
Nurses from Teamsters Local 332 have been on an Unfair Labor Practice strike for over eight months outside two Henry Ford Health hospitals in Detroit, demanding safe staffing ratios and fair wages. Despite the new $3 billion facility symbolizing progress, the nurses claim leadership has become disconnected, with management hiring expensive replacement staff while asserting financial hardship. Their strike, one of the longest in Michigan, aims to raise awareness about unsafe working conditions and the need for union representation. Nurses like Kelly Schuster and Tanya Lalko emphasize the challenges of managing excessive patient loads, seeking a fair deal to improve healthcare conditions.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT\u2014On West Grand Boulevard, two hospitals sit side by side, both owned by the Henry Ford Health system. The newly constructed facility, nearing a price tag of $3 billion, towers over the old. It\u2019s a picture Henry Ford Health would like to use as a symbol of progress and a future of high-tech, high-profit medicine. But the informational pickets held…","protected":false},"author":577,"featured_media":2614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[442,1139,411,1140,1141,199,268,1142,1143,201,1144,1145],"class_list":["post-2613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-health","tag-health-and-safety","tag-health-care","tag-health-reform","tag-healthcare-workers","tag-labor","tag-labor-movement","tag-nurses","tag-teamsters","tag-u-s","tag-union-busting","tag-unions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}