The road to more equitable workplaces
Michigan Medicine tech professionals embrace unionization
In March, more than 500 professionals who work in Michigan Medicine laboratory settings, including medical technologists, laboratory technicians, histotechnologists and clinical technologists united under the banner of United Michigan Medicine Allied Professionals by officially certifying it as their union. UMMAP, which is affiliated with the AFT, is a multi-bargaining unit union of more than 4,200 healthcare workers throughout the Michigan Medicine system. The members are now bargaining a first contract with the university, with the goal of fostering an equitable workplace culture at Michigan Medicine, ensuring that healthcare professionals from the three main hospitals in Ann Arbor to the 125 external clinics across the state are given the respect and support they deserve.
Challenges faced and voices heard
Many of the techs say their decision to unionize was influenced by the pandemic’s turbulent aftermath at Michigan Medicine. The pandemic put immense pressure on healthcare workers, leading to burnout, fatigue and staffing shortages.
“It was the pandemic and the university’s response to it that finally triggered the organizing campaign,” says Zachary Sokolowski, who works in the Michigan Medical Genetics Laboratory in Pathology, noting that it was the loss of benefits, a pay freeze, and constant demands for increased COVID-19 testing without adequate resources that pushed the healthcare workers to finally reach out to an organizer.
Nic Tobin, a medical technologist in the microbiology lab, acknowledged that there were issues in the lab before the pandemic, just like any other workplace, but the increase in specimens and tests per day was overwhelming. “It was an explosion of high-effort, high-complexity, high-urgency extra work, on top of all of our other work,” says Tobin.
Rodney Barber, a histotechnologist within the University of Michigan Department of Pathology, echoed similar sentiments. “The main factors that led to the decision to unionize were a lack of wage increases, the threat of an increase in health benefits, and the threat of retirement either being decreased or stopped altogether,” says Barber, highlighting the challenges faced by tech workers.
Building solidarity
Building solidarity was a key component of the organizing campaign. Tobin emphasizes the data-driven nature of lab professionals in building solidarity. “I don’t know about every workplace, but lab people are extremely data-driven. We want to see numbers, we want to know procedures and methodologies, facts,” says Tobin, highlighting the meticulous approach adopted in fostering unity. “It was important to orient people to what we could agree was a common narrative of where we were in recent history and the present moment,” he says.
Sokolowski stresses the importance of amplifying individual voices in the organizing process. “We’ve tried to emphasize in every organizing conversation the importance of letting folks speak for themselves and tell us exactly what’s wrong with their workplace, and then making sure they know those problems are pretty universal and that unions are the way we might finally make those problems go away,” says Sokolowski, championing inclusivity and empowerment.
“Solidarity is simply a group that has the same care and concerns,” says Barber, epitomizing the collective spirit driving the union forward. “We followed in the footsteps of the nurses and other units to help fortify our futures.”
Seeking a seat at the table
Michigan Medicine’s tech workers have overcome obstacles and are working toward more equitable workplaces by standing together. The techs laid out their vision for their union while pledging to continue providing outstanding care to their patients.
“We want a seat at the table,” says Tobin, underlining the quest for fair treatment and transparent processes within the institution. The union members’ goals are reasonable and achievable, he says, “with obvious benefits to everyone who works for a living.”
Barber echoes the sentiment, emphasizing the creation of a culture of collaboration and fairness within the university that would provide fair wages and suitable work-life balance and to maintain solidarity within the union now and in the future.
Sokolowski’s vision aims to safeguard workers’ rights and benefits from future crises while striving for excellence in patient care. “I want to ensure the professionals who do the work in the hospital receive the recognition, dignity, and pay and benefits they deserve, and to protect those workers and those benefits from the next crisis, and to hopefully make this the best hospital for both patients and workers in the state or beyond.”
This story was written by AFT communications specialist Adrienne Coles. Want to see more stories like this? Subscribe to AFT e-newsletters.
