Nearly 600 Michigan Medicine Patient Care Service Professionals, mainly working in surgery, Kellogg Eye Center and the UM Dental School from across the Michigan Medicine healthcare system have gained official recognition to become unionized with the United Michigan Medicine Allied Professionals (UMMAP), AFT Local 6739, AFL-CIO. They will be joining with over 900 workers already organized under the UMMAP banner. The union’s majority support was verified by a neutral third party.
“I am looking forward to having a seat at the table regarding workplace matters such as scheduling,” said Cheryl Bodmer, Surgical Technologist at Mott Children’s Hospital. “This is a critical step towards preserving the outstanding patient care by securing working conditions that will stabilize staffing during this national healthcare worker shortage.”
The new union members were welcomed by the labor community at Michigan Medicine. Jill Hasen, President of the United Physician Assistants of Michigan Medicine (UPAMM), AFT 5297 and an AFT Michigan Vice President, said “The physician assistants of UPAMM are excited to welcome this group to our growing union family at Michigan Medicine. As Michigan Medicine employees, there are many shared concerns that we may be able to solve collaboratively and we are looking forward to working with UMMAP to make the health system a better place to work for all of us.” UM House Officers Association (HOA) President Dr. Kyle Johnson stated “The HOA supports UMMAP’s efforts to form an inclusive union with all Michigan Medicine employees who share a community of interest.”
The healthcare workers, who perform a wide variety of roles including Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician and Assistant, Rehabilitation Technician, Dental Assistant, Dental Dispensing Assistant, Anesthesia Technician, EKG Technician, Allied Health Technical Specialist, Ophthalmic Technician, Emergency Services Technician, Surgical Technologist, Dialysis Technician, Laser Technician, SWAT Paramedic, Hyperbaric Chamber Technician, Endoscopy Technician, and Telemetry Monitor Technician, organized under the University of Michigan Board of Regents cooperative framework for union organizing.
UMMAP will be a multi-bargaining unit union of healthcare workers spanning across Michigan Medicine. Diagnostic technologists led the charge by becoming the first unit to gain official recognition and will now be joined by nearly 600 of their colleagues. Through their combined efforts, UMMAP now represents over 25 percent of patient care service professionals in the University of Michigan’s health system. With a commitment to an open, transparent, and cooperative process, UMMAP is poised to improve the workplace culture at Michigan Medicine, ensuring that health care workers are given the respect and support they deserve.
United Michigan Medicine Allied Professionals encourages healthcare workers from across Michigan Medicine to strive for respect, fairness, equity and transparency through democratic organizing and collective bargaining and looks forward to providing collective advocacy for Michigan Medicine healthcare workers from the three main hospitals in Ann Arbor to the 125 external clinics across the state.
