Nurses stand up to Tenet’s greed in fight to reach fair contract

Submitted by ADonahue on
Nurses on picket line in cold weather coats, holding signs "Patients Over Profits"

Nurses protest anti-union actions

By Dawn Kettinger

National Nurse magazine - Jan | Feb | March 2025 Issue

Michigan Nurses Association members at Detroit Medical Center’s Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township, held a boisterous informational picket to send a message that for-profit owner Tenet Healthcare must prioritize patient care by investing in nurses. 

They were also protesting a pattern of anti-union actions by the employer.

The nurses have been in negotiations with Tenet for a new contract since May and are now working without one. 

Through MNA, they have filed federal labor charges alleging that hospital executives violated the law in three ways, amounting to a failure to bargain in good faith. 

“Tenet made more $1.3 billion in profit in 2023 alone – yet they are refusing to invest in the nurses who take care of our community,” said Nichole Dimick, RN, a rapid response nurse at the hospital, vice-president of the MNA union there, and a member of the elected nurse bargaining team. 

“Between Tenet’s low wages and high health insurance costs, some nurses literally cannot afford to work here and have been leaving,” continued Dimick. “This is causing a serious staffing crisis that affects both nurses and patients. A strong contract will bring more nurses to the hospital and help keep the ones we have.”

Tenet is one of the worst examples of for-profit health care in the country. Records show that Tenet’s CEO was paid nearly $19 million in compensation in 2023. 

Huron Valley ICU nurse Jeanie Kindermann, RN, a member of the bargaining team, said she sees executives’ violations of federal labor law as part of a pattern of disrespect.

“We are committed to bargaining for a fair contract and we would hope our employer is too, but Tenet’s actions tell a different story,” Kindermann said. “Tenet executives constantly disrespect nurses and then wonder why so many are leaving.”

The unfair labor practice charges allege that:

  • Huron Valley’s chief nursing representative told members they are paid less than employees at other Tenet hospitals because they have a union;

  • Tenet has failed to provide information the union requested that is essential to the bargaining process; and

  • Tenet failed to provide notice of a change in members’ working conditions in relation to bonus shift

Tenet was highlighted in 2023’s Dirty Dozen report by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, which found that Tenet has cut corners on patient and worker safety time and time again — and even retaliated against those who speak out.

More recently, registered nurses employed at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif., and members of California Nurses Association have been fighting to hold Tenet accountable and put patients over profits.

“Never in my 27 years have I seen such a hemorrhaging of nursing staff,” said Kindermann. “There is no nursing shortage – there is a shortage of nurses willing to work under conditions that Tenet has created. As a union, we are working hard to change those conditions with a strong contract, and no union-busting efforts will intimidate us.”