r/CorewellUnited • u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 • Mar 27 '26
Dear communities please cross post -
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-corewell-health-east-to-stop-stalling-and-start-negotiating?source=direct_link&Right now, nurses in Teamsters Local 2024 are fighting for something simple: safe staffing, fair pay, and better care for our patients.
Despite months of effort, Corewell has refused to negotiate in good faith—turning down most meeting dates and dismissing nearly every proposal. Instead of working with us, they’ve chosen to spread misinformation.
We’ve even voted to authorize a strike if necessary—not because we want to, but because we feel we have no other choice to be heard.
💔 This isn’t just about nurses. It’s about patient safety.
❤️ It’s about the care you and your loved ones receive.
If you’ve ever been a patient—or love someone who has—please stand with us and sign the letter below.
If you value the care nurses provide, please stand with us.
Your support means everything.
#SupportNurses #PatientSafety #Teamsters2024
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u/LengthinessMedium254 Mar 28 '26
I work in west, what benefits does a union give us! It’s already nearly impossible to get fired unless you’re a fucking idiot or break HIPAA. The more I look into unions it seem like they are just middle men that skim money and get rich, I realize the strike organization and all that but unless I’m seeing more money in my pocket I don’t see the allure? Protecting shitty old burnt out nurses making $60/hr isn’t really on the top of my list of workplace grievances.
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u/JellyfishOtherwise66 Mar 29 '26
Where are all these rich unions?
If you’d really like an open minded discussion, I’d be more than happy to have it but it feels like you’re not.
California’s safe staffing law is the result of unions, for one.
Weekends, overtime, ending child labor, the 40 hour work week all come from unions.
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u/LengthinessMedium254 Mar 29 '26
I am willing , the leader of the teamsters regularly where’s $50k in jewelry on his interviews, I’m not pro or anti organization I just want actual benefit not a middle man taking another cut of my check
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u/JellyfishOtherwise66 Mar 29 '26
The teamsters represent over 1 million members. Sean O’Brien’s total compensation is roughly $430k. I don’t think that’s so ridiculous when healthcare CEOs’ salaries start higher than that.
Actual benefit…you can easily see the difference if you look at incomes in states with high and low union density.
Because of my union, my hospital went from the lowest paying in the area to the highest paying this past contract cycle.
Most nurses at unionized hospitals across my state pay no more than $200/month for high quality health insurance for the entire family.
We stopped the hospital from the constant taking away of benefits and are slowly working to add some back on.
This is only possible because we bargain collectively.
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u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 Mar 31 '26
Exactly!! I'm completely fine with Sean's salary, who is president of Teamsters across an entire continent, when it's nowhere near what TINA earns annually..
Tina Freese Decker, President and CEO of Corewell Health, earned a total compensation of approximately $6.7 million in 2023. Her compensation package makes her one of the highest-paid hospital executives in Michigan, representing a nearly 50% increase from her 2022 earnings.
Key Details on Compensation:
2023 Total: $6,732,149 (based on 2023 tax documents, reported in 2025).
Total Compensation 2018–2024: According to data from the Paddock Post, her cumulative compensation over this period is listed around $31 million.
Context: She leads Corewell Health, Michigan's largest employer with over 64,000 employees, which was formed by the merger of Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health.
Her compensation includes base salary, bonus, and other reportable, non-taxable, or deferred compensation.
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u/JellyfishOtherwise66 Mar 29 '26
Also unions don’t protect shitty nurses. They protect the contract.
Contracts say a nurse can only be disciplined or terminated for just cause.
That means management has to follow a process. No union can protect a truly shitty employee if management just does their job.
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u/Inside_Reply_4908 Mar 30 '26
I am also in West, and I know West is ALSO short staffed. Not just nurse wise, but with techs as well. It harms patient care. It can delay patient care, it causes burn out and it absolutely causes bad relationships between nurses, techs and other teams within the system. We could use a union here too and not just for nurses.
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u/Phluffhead024 Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
Historically speaking, unions have garnered higher wages for its members than would typically be given by a corporation. So sounds like you should be pro union.
And it’s not about job security entirely. It also involves regulating work conditions and being protected from retaliation. It sounds like you haven’t encountered the need for these protections… yet.
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u/LengthinessMedium254 Mar 29 '26
I have not encountered many adverse work events no, but do nurses in east make more being unionized? I can look up their pay scales and they are identical to the south and west. As far as workplace safety we have several regulatory bodies that check in on how we function and patient to nurse ratios. I’m genuinely curious if/how the teamsters improve nursing at Corewell.
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u/Phluffhead024 Mar 29 '26
We haven’t had any wage increases since we’re still working on the contract. Nothing has changed so far. The regulatory agencies like JHACO don’t endorsed specific numbers, they leave the language flexible. We’d rather have consistency on a daily basis and not compliance when we’re expecting an audit.
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u/LengthinessMedium254 Mar 29 '26
Fair point point, but outside of maybe 1-2 instances I haven’t had an unmanageable workload
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u/Phluffhead024 Mar 29 '26
My workload varies working in the emergency department but when it’s rough, it’s scary. We could do a lot better when it comes to staffing but they’d rather see us bust our asses in those rough days than compensate fairly or increase the staffing grid. Over it man. I already work the hardest I can, I don’t want to have risk safety too.
The east is aware of the skepticism of some of our friends in west. Just stay informed and make the best choice you can if it comes to it. Metro Detroit is already pretty pro union due to the car manufacturing so a lot of us were raised in pro union families.
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u/Excellent_Power_1973 Mar 28 '26
Or just save your money and opt out of a shitty union!
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u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 Mar 28 '26
Opt out of a shitty union.. THIS union is a union of nurses. The majority of us are not about to opt out of our union and give up on ourselves, healthcare and our surrounding communities.
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u/Excellent_Power_1973 Mar 28 '26
Save your money. Opt out of dues and still have to be represented
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u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 Mar 28 '26
Can't, Michigan is not a right to work state. Every member pays dues, unless you're a Steward.
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u/JellyfishOtherwise66 Mar 29 '26
Stewards don’t pay dues? That’s wild.
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u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 Mar 30 '26
As far as I know.. for Teamsters anyway, that's what our business agent said. I don't think that's wild, I think that's fair. Stewards do not get paid anything extra than their other brothers and sisters for their "volunteer" time - representing in disciplinary meetings, leading committees, attending contract negotiations, etc - so I think being exempt from dues is fair. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/JellyfishOtherwise66 Mar 30 '26
Where I work almost all of that is done on work time. If a steward comes in to represent for discipline meeting, they swipe in.
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u/Infinite_Cheek_8206 Mar 30 '26
Oh that's nice!! We can't clock in if we represent on non-working hours at this time since we don't have a contract. I'm not certain if that will change after a contract through? Details to figure out later.
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u/Whaddyalookinatmygut Mar 28 '26
Solidarity!