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POWERS -- Nurses at Pinecrest Medical Care Facility plan to host an informational picket near the facility Monday.
The action comes as Pinecrest and the union representing 15 licensed practical nurses are heading to state fact-finding after being unable to reach agreement on wages, according to Kevin Lignell, communications coordinator for the Service Employees International Union.
LPNs say they are regularly working overtime because Pinecrest's wages are not competitive with other nursing homes in the area. After many RNs left Pinecrest last year, LPNs say they've had to pick up their responsibilities without any increases in wages.
Pinecrest has been negotiating with its bargaining unit represented by SEIU Healthcare Michigan based in Detroit since early in January to reach agreement on wages and health insurance premium sharing for 2023.
Pinecrest is a public facility in Powers owned by the counties of Delta, Dickinson and Menominee, and is operated by the Pinecrest Board of Directors. Pinecrest is a skilled nursing facility and home to almost 70 residents of the three counties.
Bargaining has been hampered by post-pandemic resident census challenges as well as the significant increase in the wage market for nurses, officials said. Since the pandemic started, employee incentives and bonuses have increased the annual W-2 pay of LPNs by more than 47%, said Dana Smith, Pinecrest administrator.
According to Pinecrest, its last proposal included a $3.50 per hour wage increase for all LPNs as well as an additional 50 cents an hour increase for employees on the second and third shift. This one-year increase would exceed 15% for the LPNs. The top rate for LPNs would increase from its current level of $22.60 per hour to $26.10 per hour for first-shift LPNs, $27.10 per hour for second-shift LPNs and $27.35 per hour for third-shift LPNs.
The union's last proposal was for a top rate increase of $5.66 per hour for first-shift employees, to $28.26; an increase of $6.91 per hour for second-shift employees, to $29.51; and an increase of $7.16 per hour for third-shift employees, to $29.76 per hour.
The parties met with the state mediator March 21 but reached no agreement.
"We are very disappointed by the outcome of the mediation," Smith said. "Despite making a one-year wage increase proposal of more than 15 percent, the union bargaining committee would not agree. The employer wants a fair wage increase as much as the employees. But it has to be fair to the public and the taxpayers as well. They own this facility and support it with their Medicaid, Medicare and tax dollars. We have to be good stewards of those funds."
Nurses claim Pinecrest administrators are harming their ability to provide care to residents.
"I became an LPN because I'm passionate about my residents and I want to provide the highest quality of care," said Kasse Wellman, LPN at Pinecrest. "But we are dealing with a staffing crisis at Pinecrest due to low wages and challenging working conditions. Pinecrest initially refused to negotiate with us, which is a shame because LPNs at our facility are the lowest paid in our entire region. These wage increases would only put us on par with other facilities. This is important because without competitive wages, we cannot recruit and retain staff and it's the residents who ultimately will suffer. When we are so exhausted and worn out, it's hard to give our residents their basic care, when what they deserve is extra care."
Mason Wallace, an LPN at Pinecrest, said nurses are working long hours with double shifts and frequently taking overtime due to the lack of staff.
"Pinecrest is failing our community by refusing to invest in its care workers," Wallace said. "Since we started raising these issues with management, we've seen retaliation against staff. Your loved ones could require care in our facility someday. If you care about our most vulnerable residents, we encourage our community members to speak up and demand that Pinecrest solve the staffing crisis."
SEIU workers will have their informational picket from 8 a.m. to noon Monday at the weight station in Powers.
Fact-finding -- the next step in the mediation process -- is expected to be scheduled in coming weeks.