Facing a pandemic, more Michigan workers turned to unions
Katlyn Lafrinere, a Marquette-based cardiovascular radiologic technologist for the U.P. Health System, comes from a union family. But until the pandemic hit, and health care professionals everywhere were faced with unprecedented challenges, she wasn’t a union member herself.
That changed in July, when she and other techs voted to form a union and join the Michigan Nurse’s Association.
“When COVID-19 affected us up here, we all just kind of started realizing how closely we all work together. We were working together really well, all of these departments, and we’re thinking ‘if we can all band together to take care of our patients in this way, why can’t we do it for ourselves and help them as well,’” Lafrinere said.
Hers was the third unit to unionize though Michigan Nurse’s Association since the pandemic began.
Overall, union membership in Michigan is growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15.2% of Michigan’s wage and salary workers were union members in 2020, up from 13.6% in 2019. Experts say that as the way people work changes – from wage increases to remote work – one way employees seek to gain power in the workplace is by organizing.
Read more: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/08/facing-a-pandemic-more-michigan-workers-turned-to-unions.html