Henry Ford Rochester nurses on strike over staffing levels

Henry Ford Rochester nurses strike

Nurses at Henry Ford Hospital in Rochester are on strike over what they say are unsafe staffing levels.

ROCHESTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Nurses at Henry Ford Hospital in Rochester will walk the picket line for three days this week over what they say are unfair labor practices, including unsafe staffing levels.

The strike began at 7 a.m. Monday.

The backstory:

Last week, members of the Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 40 union approved a strike during a secret vote. They also protested over the same issues in the winter.

The union alleges in a press release that Henry Ford Health "refused to correct its unfair labor practices, refused to discuss establishing a nurse-patient ratio to protect nurse and patient safety, refused to move from their under-market wage proposal and otherwise refused to negotiate any of their positions to avoid the strike" during Sunday's negotiations, which OPEIU Local 40 says could have adverted the strike. 

One of the main concerns involves what the union calls unsafe staffing levels. The union alleges that some nurses care for eight to 12 patients at a time.

The union also claims that Henry Ford is locking out nurses until Saturday, a claim the hospital refutes. 

In a statement, Henry Ford, which took over the former community hospital last fall, said that its "offer includes competitive wages and benefits, while ensuring safe staffing and a sustainable financial future for our hospital. We believe strongly that the offer we’ve made to our nurses is a fair, competitive, and thoughtful investment in our future together."

The union is also railing against Henry Ford for bringing in non-union workers with an outside staff agency during the strike at more than double the pay rate of regular staff. 

Henry Ford said that it does have a plan to bring in outside nurses to keep the hospital staffed during the strike. 

Watch FOX 2 News Live