On Thursday, the Michigan Nurses Affiliation (MNA) and its Ann Arbor affiliate, the College of Michigan Skilled Nurse Council (UMPNC), introduced a tentative settlement with Michigan Medication, the well being care system managed by the College of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In a sequence of tweets, the MNA-UMPNC hailed the tentative settlement as a “big win” and a contract that “helps and respects nurses” however stated nothing about what was in it. In a press launch the identical day, the MNA claimed the tentative contract included “an finish to obligatory time beyond regulation,” “an improved mechanism for imposing contractual workload ratios” and “aggressive wages.”

“Highlights” of the settlement ready by the union, and later shared with the WSWS Well being Care Employee E-newsletter, present that it’s nothing of the kind. Similar to the current settlement reached by the rail unions, brokered by the Biden administration, to dam a nationwide rail strike, the MNA-UMPNC’s cope with Michigan Medication is an effort to maintain nurses on the job and sabotage their struggle.

The so-called “big win” in actuality consists of the next:

• The wages part of the settlement says nurses will obtain pay will increase of seven.5 p.c in 2022, 6 p.c in 2023, 5 p.c in 2024 and 4 p.c in 2025. Whereas the union says that the will increase are “24.43 p.c when compounded yearly,” on the present annual fee of inflation standing at 8.26 p.c, that is actually a pay reduce.

  The union can also be selling Michigan Medication’s provide of a $5,000 bonus “upon ratification” and one other $2,000 for nurses “at contract expiration.” Nevertheless, these quantities don’t come near recovering the revenue misplaced by rising inflation and the shortage of cost-of-living will increase in earlier agreements signed by the MNA-UMPNC with Michigan Medication.

• The “highlights” say nothing about how the hospital goes to resolve the staffing scarcity. The tentative settlement consists of zero dedication from Michigan Medication to rent the variety of nurses required to adequately workers the hospital and resolve the Quantity One situation dealing with nurses. The union “highlights” say in Level 4 that the tentative settlement consists of the “first ever contractually enforceable workload ratios” however doesn’t elaborate on what this implies.

  Provided that Michigan Medication maintained all through negotiations that obligatory staffing necessities have been an unlawful bargaining situation and the union instantly dropped particular nurse-to-patient ratios calls for, the declare that ratios might be “contractually enforceable” is doubtful to say the least.

• In Level 5, the “highlights” say obligatory time beyond regulation might be ended however then qualifies this with an extended checklist of exceptions together with, “conditions which can be the results of routine staffing wants from typical staffing patterns, anticipated ranges of absenteeism or time without work.” In different phrases, obligatory time beyond regulation has been “abolished” besides in these conditions the place administration would ever conceivably demand it.
• Likewise, in Level 9 on the essential situation of on-call hours, the MNA-UMPNC has agreed to what it calls “Incentivized Brief-Time period Excessive Emptiness Name,” which accepts Michigan Medication’s refusal to adequately workers the hospital. On this system, nurses will stay on name in 4-hour blocks of time based mostly on “purposeful emptiness charges” in every unit. Whereas the MNA-UMPNC claims this can be a “non permanent” system, with none hiring necessities within the settlement, Michigan Medication might be pushing to make it everlasting.

The WSWS Well being Care Employee E-newsletter calls on Michigan Medication nurses to reject the sellout settlement introduced by the MNA-UMPNC as a betrayal of this months-long struggle. All the things that has occurred over the previous six months confirms our warnings that the union has been working with hospital administration to stop a strike and impose a brand new rotten contract.

Nurses and different hospital staff ought to be part of the Michigan Medication Rank-and-File Committee (MMRFC) to prepare the rising opposition towards the spinelessness and treachery of the union and unite with different sections of the working class resembling autoworkers, academics and railroad staff who’re engaged in related struggles.

Like well being care staff in California, Minnesota and New York, Michigan Medication nurses have proven their willpower to struggle for an finish to the staffing shortages and to offer secure and high-quality take care of sufferers.

Nurses have additionally repeatedly opposed efforts by the MNA-UMPNC to divert their wrestle into ineffective protests to Democratic Social gathering officers on the College of Michigan Board of Regents. This was proven most clearly within the overwhelming vote for strike motion at the start of September.

The decision handed at a gathering of 500 railroad staff on September 14 factors the way in which ahead for Michigan Medication nurses in organizing opposition to the sellout tentative settlement between the MNA-UMPNC and the hospital.

In addressing the tentative settlement blocking the nationwide rail strike, railroaders insisted that they’d not settle for a contract that didn’t handle their major calls for for pay will increase and acceptable working circumstances and had not been ratified by the membership. In addition they stated, “any try and drive via contracts that we don’t settle for and that haven’t been voted on, or to maintain us working with out a contract, might be in violation of clear directions given by the rank and file.” The Railroad Employees Rank-and-File Committee is now organizing railroaders to implement the phrases of this decision.

The MMRFC has been fashioned to unite all hospital staff and break via the isolation and subordination of their wrestle to the union’s unfair labor practices submitting and Democratic Social gathering officers. It has superior the next calls for:

• Reject the sellout tentative settlement and launch fast strike motion towards Michigan Medication.
• Protected nurse-to-patient ratios which can be obligatory and nonnegotiable. Michigan Medication should rent sufficient nurses to ensure a secure working atmosphere for workers and sufferers.
• Finish the obligatory time beyond regulation and prolonged on-call hours which have destroyed the work-life stability of nurses. All time beyond regulation should be voluntary and on-call hours eradicated.
• An inflation-busting 30 p.c wage enhance to make up for years of declining actual wages, plus a cost-of-living escalator to maintain tempo with inflation.
• Upgrades to PPE towards COVID-19 and monkeypox. We’d like adequate protecting gear, together with well-fitting masks which can be N95 or higher, to guard our sufferers and ourselves.
• Full strike pay offered by the MNA-UMPNC and the Michigan AFL-CIO.
• Reply strikebreaking with a basic strike of Michigan labor!