Ten thousand registered nurses employed by Corewell Health have voted to authorize a strike in a bid to secure their first union contract with the Michigan nonprofit system.
The nurses work at nine of the system’s 21 hospitals, focused in the eastern part of the state—what was formerly Beaumont Health before the 2022 merger that created Corewell.
The nurses voted in late 2024 to join the Teamsters union and are now represented by Teamsters Local 2024. Since June 2025, the local has been campaigning for a labor contract with the system.
Chief among the demands for such a contract: “safe nurse-to-patient ratios, fair wages, affordable health insurance and improved workplace safety,” according to this week’s announcement. The local said its vote succeeded with nearly 90% of votes cast in favor of the authorization.
“This overwhelming strike vote shows that nurses are done being bullied into silence while executives put profits over patients and gamble with our safety and our licenses,” Rachel Szadyr, a cardiac ICU nurse and member of the Teamsters Local 2024 bargaining committee, said in the announcement. “It’s no secret that nurses everywhere are struggling. We keep losing incredible nurses because of a rigged system that lets so‑called nonprofit hospitals pile more responsibility onto nurses, while stripping away the resources we need to provide safe care. This isn’t sustainable and it’s exactly why we are fighting for the best possible contract.”
Following an authorization vote, Michigan law requires that healthcare workers provide at least 10 days’ written notice to an employer before initiating a strike. This week’s authorization vote clears the way for negotiators to send that notice.
Corewell employs more than 60,000 people, including over 16,000 nurses, according to its website. Earlier this month, it reported across 2025 $17.6 billion in total operating revenue, a $276 million operating income (1.6% operating margin) and $1.3 billion in net income, all improvements over the prior year.
The local said Corewell management has been against its efforts from the start, citing “an aggressive $1.7 million union-busting campaign” in 2024 and alleging that the system has since punished members by terminating a student loan repayment program, eliminating pull pay (a premium wage paid when an employee is tasked to work outside of their main department) and prioritizing nonunion employees for unspecified “economic opportunities.”
“This greedy corporate hospital system spent millions to try to stop these nurses from becoming Teamsters and now they are hemorrhaging even more money on anti-union attorneys who want to keep workers from getting the best possible contract,” Tom Erickson, lead negotiator and international vice president of Teamsters Central Region, said. “This strike vote should make it crystal clear to Corewell—we aren’t backing down and if they continue to keep this charade up, nurses are united and ready to take power into their own hands.”
In a statement reportedly given to press, a Corewell spokesperson said the system has made “significant investments in wages and benefits. We remain committed to reaching an agreement with the Teamsters. The results of the strike authorization vote will not change our approach, and we believe talk of a strike is premature. Neither side has made a final offer, and we will continue to bargain in good faith."
Fierce Healthcare has reached out to Corewell for additional comment.