Michigan Medicine, Nurses Union Members Reach Tentative Agreement
Michigan Medicine and nurses with the University of Michigan Professional Nurses Council (UMPNC) reached a tentative three-year contract agreement last Friday, according to a UMPNC press release. “Details of the tentative agreement will be discussed at membership meetings, and nurses will have the final say through a ratification vote,” Katie Oppenheim, nurse and chair of the Michigan Nurses Association, said in the press release. “Our bargaining team is recommending this agreement because it will allow nurses to continue to provide world-class care. We are proud of our nurses and their ongoing dedication to patients.” UMPNC is an affiliate of the Michigan Nurses Association and represents more than 5,700 nurses at University of Michigan Health System facilities. More than 4,000 of those members voted in September to authorize their bargaining team to implement a three-day hospital strike if an agreement could not be made. David Spahlinger, M.D., president of the University of Michigan Health System and executive vice dean for clinical affairs of the University of Michigan Medical School, said the system is pleased they could reach this agreement. “Reaching a resolution is the best possible outcome for our hospital employees, our patients and our community,” Spahlinger said in a press release. “We all care deeply about our patients and our top priority is to ensure our patients receive the highest quality of care. We know families and patients choose Michigan Medicine because of our devoted teams of faculty and staff, including our excellent nurses. We are eager to move forward together.” Full details of the agreement will be discussed at UMPNC member meetings, and a ratification vote is scheduled from October 7-10, according to the UMPNC website.
Union nurses vote to authorize strike at Michigan Medicine
Nurses at Michigan Medicine, based out of Ann Arbor and affiliated with the University of Michigan, voted last week to authorize a three-day strike “in protest of the University’s unfair labor practices.” No date for the strike has been set, but the vote allows the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council (UMPNC) bargaining team to submit a 10-day strike notice if they feel it’s necessary, according to the union’s statement. “Our goal is not a work stoppage,” said Katie Oppenheim, RN and chair of UMPNC in the statement. “Our goal is a fair agreement which respects nurses and guarantees safe staffing. The University can remedy this situation immediately, by stopping their unfair labor practices and bargaining in good faith.” Of the approximately 5,000 nurses represented by the UMPNC, an affiliate of the Michigan Nurses Association, more than 4,000 voted last week to authorize a strike. Nurses at the facility have worked without a contract since it expired on June 30 this year. UMPNC and university officials began contract negotiations in January but have struggled to lock down a new agreement. A state mediator joined the bargaining table on July 10 to help parties reach a final agreement, but little progress has been made. “We are disappointed that our UMPNC nurses have voted to approve a strike,” said Mary Masson, director of public relations for Michigan Medicine. “We have been bargaining in good faith since January and have offered a competitive package.” If nurses decide to initiate a strike, the Michigan Medicine legal team is prepared to pursue legal action because “it is illegal for public employees to strike,” the university said in their bargaining update Tuesday. Michigan Medicine is also prepared to bring in temporary nursing staff if a strike notice is issued and “has been developing contingency plans in the event of a strike.” The union main complaints, according to the statement, include: failing to bargain in good faith, including over terms and conditions of employment; making changes in work shifts without notifying or negotiating with the union; and discriminating against union members who are engaged in legally protected speech in support of their right to collective bargaining. UMPNC filed four unfair labor practice charges with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission about these issues on September 12.
Travel Jobs: Top 10 States for June, July Market Predictions
In our June traveler job market predictions, we talked about the “summer stall”—less new job postings, more competition for every job and more interest in atypical summer job states. Based on StaffDNA job board data, two of our predictions were on target. Job application volume increase by nearly 20 percent from May to June, marking the most active month since January. What we didn’t expect was for supply to match pace with demand. Hospital systems in many states, including popular summer destinations like California and Virginia, bounced back after the late-May and early-June slump. Part of this can be linked to vacation plans for permanent hospital staff, according to travel agency sales staff sources. As the regular staff takes off for the summer or cuts back on hours, that provides opportunities for travelers to fill the gaps. We expect for this market momentum to stay strong in July, as travelers who took time off in June will be planning ahead for the start of the school season in August or to find a fall contract in September. The back-to-school rush marks a yearly milestone for many travelers with children or grandchildren. They will typically take a break during the summer for childcare, and return to hospitals once the kids are back in school. “The experienced travelers know it can take four to six weeks to find and start a job, so they start the search for an agency and position mid-summer,” said Kate Quinn of LiquidAgents Healthcare. Let’s take a look at what we learned from our top markets for June. Rankings barely shift as travelers settle in for the summer While April and May saw a lot of “movement” in terms of where healthcare travelers applied across the country, ranking shifts were much more conservative in June, despite the high application volume. Most states moved up or down the list by 5 ranks or less, and five states—North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and Washington—didn’t move at all. We expect the list to remain mostly stable for July, August and potentially in early fall, as traveler won’t start making big moves until we get closer to the holiday season. Michigan, Missouri, Virginia enter the Top 10 For the first time this year, Missouri joined the likes of Texas, California and Florida in the top 10, moving up two spots from May to No. 9. Virginia moved back up as anticipated, jumping up five ranks to No. 10 on the list. The state is both a top travel destination for summer 2018 and one of the top five highest paying travel nurse states in the U.S. Montana, Wyoming climb the charts; Connecticut drops to dead last Montana and Wyoming both moved up seven ranks to take the No. 41 and 42 slots, respectively, while Connecticut dropped 16 spots to the bottom of our list. Connecticut has consistently ranked in the bottom half of the list for job board applications. It’s also one of the most expensive states to work in as a traveler because of the high regional cost of living and low average pay packages. Interest in Maine uncertain as Medicaid expansion remains in flux Enrollment for the voter-approved Medicaid expansion was supposed to roll out on July 2, which would have provided a $500 million shot in the arm for healthcare funding in the state and coverage for more than 70,000 eligible recipients. Pending litigation surrounding the expansion has left the issue in limbo. A Maine judge forced Gov. Paul LePage to submit an expansion plan to the federal government by June 11, but LePage’s administration submitted an appeal for the ruling. While the appeal is pending, LePage also vetoed the expansion bill this week. Because of the political turmoil, it’s uncertain whether the expansion will have an impact on the Maine traveler job market as expected. June’s Top Markets Florida California Texas North Carolina Georgia South Carolina Michigan Pennsylvania Missouri Virginia Illinois Indiana Kentucky Tennessee Arkansas Arizona Nevada Idaho Oklahoma Iowa Wisconsin West Virginia New Mexico Maine Oregon Colorado Washington Hawaii Ohio Alabama Louisiana Maryland Mississippi New Jersey Alaska Utah Kansas Montana Wyoming Minnesota Massachusetts North Dakota New York District of Columbia Delaware Nebraska New Hampshire Rhode Island South Dakota Vermont Connecticut
5 Best Value States for Thrifty Travel Nurses
For some travel nurses, the appeal of jumping into the healthcare gypsy lifestyle is more about finding adventures in new parts of the country—for others making money is still a major motivator. But keeping the money you make as a traveler can be just as hard as making it. With a good chunk of your income going towards travel and living expenses, not to mention the unpredictability of temporary staffing, finding the best places to work where you can make your dollars stretch is tough. We’ve narrowed down the five states where you can work and earn the most bang for your buck, based on data from our Travel Nursing Pay Package Rankings and Cost of Living By State list. Our five best states were selected using the following criteria: Each state had to rank among the top 20 highest pay packages offered. Each state had to be at least 5 points or more below the 100.00 baseline of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parity index. This gave us the best balance of how much you can make vs. how much you can expect to spend, as you can save significantly more money in states below 100.00 even if they don’t offer sky-high pay packages like California or New York, where the high cost of living negates the benefit of significant earnings. Let’s start from the bottom and work our way to No. 1. 5. Louisiana Louisiana just barely edged out Montana to make our Best Value list. The state currently ranks No. 20 for highest pay packages, but what gave it the edge is its cost-of-living rating, which is almost 10 points below the national average (90.4) Now that Louisiana is part of the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact as of May 31, we expect to see more competition for jobs as many more travelers will have easy access to the state by December. 4. Wisconsin Wisconsin comes in at No. 4 on our Best Value list, thanks to its No. 17 ranking for highest travel nurse pay packages and low cost of living rating at 92.8, more than 7 points below the national average. Since the state is one of the less-traveled vacation spots in the U.S. and a prime target for frigid but profitable winter travel jobs, the low cost of living means there’s plenty of opportunities to earn money in The Badger State. 3. Michigan Speaking of profitable northern states, right across from Wisconsin is our No. 3 Best Value state, Michigan. Michigan ranked slightly higher in our pay package list at No. 14 and subsequently had a slightly higher regional cost of living at 93.3 on the index. Both Michigan and Wisconsin made our Highest Paying Jobs post this week. 2. Indiana Indiana consistently ranks among the top 10 most applied-to states for travelers in the first place, so the fact that it boasts the No. 12 slot in pay packages and a dirt-cheap cost of living rating at 90.3 percent. Some of the cities that regularly have job listings on the StaffDNA boards include Fort Wayne, Bloomington and Indianapolis. 1. Iowa With only one decimal point lower than Indiana on the cost of living index and several ranks above Indiana in terms of pay packages, Iowa takes the cake as our top Best Value travel nursing state. Out of all the other states on this list, Iowa is the true exception in that it currently ranks in the top 10 highest paying states, yet comparatively in the middle in travel nurse applications each month.