A professional imperative

Nurses at the University of Michigan Hospitals (UMH) have been organized since 1974 into a bargaining unit of the Michigan Nurses' Association (MNA), known as the Professional Nurse Council. There have been several bargaining periods and contracts. The most recent contract prior to the strike terminated in September, 1980. Following this contract expiration, negotiations occurred, month after month, between the union and the hospital's bargaining team. At times, it appeared as though settlement was imminent, but negotiations continued on through the fall of 1980 and into the winter of 1981. A state-appointed mediator failed to solve the problem. The authors contend that the principal issues were not those being negotiated at the bargaining table.