Commerce Township. – Healthcare workers at DMC Huron Valley voted March 31, to join SEIU Healthcare Michigan, Michigan’s largest healthcare union representing over 17,000 nurses and caregivers.

The vote affects nearly 300 workers in dozens of job titles at the hospital, including; patient care associates, respiratory therapists, surgical techs, food service workers, unit clerks, radiologic techs, and many other vital members of the healthcare delivery team. 

“Over the past year, people have asked me if I’m scared, and I just say ‘I’m right where I need to be, I’m a respiratory therapist in the middle of a global respiratory pandemic,” said Amanda Kwit, who has almost a decade of service at DMC Huron Valley. “I was sometimes working 60 hours a week, and then would come home and couldn’t kiss my kids or husband out of fear that I could infect them, and it took an emotional toll. But I’ve stuck with this job because I’m deeply involved in my community, including being my kids’ PTA vice president, and it’s an honor to be able to work in the hospital that my neighbors go to. The word ‘union’ always scared me, but going through this election has opened my eyes and changed my life. I now understand that unions work for working people, and are the only way we will solve the major problems we’re facing. Now that we’ve won our union, we have a united voice and a seat at the table, and we can advocate effectively for ourselves, our families, and the high quality, one-on-one patient care our community deserves.”

DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, in Commerce Township, Michigan, is one of the eight hospitals/institutes composing the Detroit Medical Center. Tenet Healthcare Corporation owns the facility, and SEIU Healthcare Michigan now represents over 800 employees at 3 Tenet-owned hospitals across Michigan.