Left to right: Barb Carl, Melanie Hutchinson and Roberta Johnson show their excitement after the vote tally indicated they won three out of four elections for representation at Sparrow hospital.

Looking for a voice in the decision making that impacts the future of health care, 2,600 support staff, technicians, and skilled maintenance employees at Sparrow Hospital Association in Lansing, Mich., voted by a 65 percent margin to join the UAW.

The April 7 vote saw workers in three of four units choose the UAW. Hospital support staff voted 868-435 (67 percent) for the union; technical staff voted 304-168 (64 percent); skilled maintenance workers voted 37-25 (60 percent). Business unit clerical workers voted 42-34 against the union. The overall margin in all four units was 65 percent for the UAW.

The votes give collective bargaining rights to employees at Sparrow Hospital, St. Lawrence Hospital, the Dimondale Center, and related health care clinics in Lansing. Some 50,000 active and retired UAW members in Lansing--including thousands of auto workers, manufacturing workers, and Michigan state employees--are among the users of Sparrow facilities.

"We are proud to welcome Sparrow employees into the UAW family," said UAW President Stephen P. Yokich. "They join a large and growing group of health care employees who recognize the UAW’s ability to bargain strong contracts."

"The associates have spoken," said Barb Carl, a laboratory technician at Sparrow Hospital. "Now it’s time for the administration to hear our needs and concerns and to work with us to give better care for patients and our entire community."

Sparrow employees petitioned for UAW representation in February, seeking a collective voice in decision making on service cutbacks, staff reductions, hospital closures, working conditions, benefits, and other issues that impact on community health care and their jobs.

"I’m proud and happy," said Daniel Bottello, a transport technician at Sparrow. "We are finally going to have a voice. We can tell them what’s wrong, and how to make it right, and now they will listen."

The Sparrow campaign was "hard-fought with a lot of passion on both sides," said UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn, who directs the union’s Technical, Office, and Professional (TOP) Dept. "Management worked hard to convince Sparrow employees that a union was not necessary. The workers had a different view, however, and a majority voted yes because they believe a union is exactly what they need to improve the hospital and their working lives."

Region 1C Director Cal Rapson gives some positive feedback to health workers before the final count was in at UAW Local 652 in Lansing, Mich.

UAW Region 1C members in Lansing locals helped mobilize support for the union with letters of support, leafleting, and in a meeting with Sparrow workers. UAW-represented health care workers from St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, and Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital in Pontiac, Mich. also sent letters of support.

Cal Rapson, director of Region 1C, saluted the "courage and strength" of Sparrow workers. "We fully expect the Sparrow administration to respect the decision workers have made," he added. "We are ready to work together to negotiate a contract that meets the needs of patients, workers, and our community."

Sparrow employees join thousands of health care workers who have chosen the UAW recently, including 2,600 workers at Toledo’s St. Vincent Hospital, 440 employees at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, and 176 workers at Helen Joy Newberry Hospital in Newberry, Mich.