Economy

After 411 days on strike, Flint-area nurses vote to go back. The hospital filled many of their jobs.

Teamsters Local 332 kept its union and seniority rights, but the contract looks much like what Henry Ford already pays. Return-to-work terms are unsettled.

Stock photo. Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township, Mich., voted Friday to accept the hospital's last offer and end a strike that began on Labor Day 2025. It lasted 411 days.

The nurses and case managers belong to Teamsters Local 332. Henry Ford Health announced the vote late Friday, Michigan Public reported. The strike is over. When the strikers actually get back to work, and on which units, is still being negotiated.

How a hospital sale turned into a 13-month walkout

Genesys, near Flint, used to belong to Ascension. It became part of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health through a joint venture with Ascension Michigan in October 2024. When the nurses' contract expired in August 2025, the fight centered on staffing. Union president Dan Glass said Henry Ford wanted "standard policy across the board instead of recognizing that each union has collectively bargained," Michigan Public reported when more than 600 nurses walked out. The Teamsters later put the number of strikers at about 750 nurses and case workers. The hospital disputes that count.

The hospital kept operating. It says 350 nurses either worked through the strike or were hired after it began. In November 2025 it gave raises of up to 8.6% to the nurses who stayed or were hired, and it warned strikers that some of their former shifts and assignments "may no longer exist," according to a hospital release.

What the nurses voted for

According to the hospital, the three-year contract includes:

A 13% raise. The hospital's March offer described this as raises of "up to 13% for some nurses," with average pay of about $100,000 a year before overtime (Henry Ford Health, ABC12).
New pay rates for weekend, critical and off-shift work.
The same nurse-to-patient ratios as earlier Local 332 contracts.
Seniority rights for every striking member.

The full contract has not been released. The hospital also said the deal is consistent with the terms it had already imposed on nurses over the past year, Michigan Public reported. Nurses had argued that staffing often fell short of the contract ratios even before the old deal expired, Spectrum News reported.

Glass was frank about why members voted yes. "It was clear that the parties were not going to reach a mutual agreement on some of the core issues that remained," he said. He added: "Our nurses felt it was time to continue advocating for their patients at the bedside while preserving their ability to have Teamsters protection throughout this agreement" (ABC12).

"We're thrilled at the prospect of welcoming our valued team members back to work," said Gwen Sandefur, interim president of Henry Ford Genesys (Michigan Public).

The union's side

Throughout the strike, Teamsters Local 332 accused Henry Ford of union busting. Glass has said the hospital spent its money and energy on union busting and replacement nurses, according to Teamsters coverage of the dispute. Those are the union's allegations, and WorkersRights.News is reporting them as such. The hospital disputes that characterization and says it respects its employees' right to unionize. That is the hospital's claim, and readers can weigh it against the union's account of how the hospital handled bargaining and replacement nurses. The union also filed unfair labor practice charges over the hospital's declaration of impasse; the NLRB dismissed at least one of them in April, and Glass has said more are pending.

The union survived, so far

In September, some nurses filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to remove the Teamsters, backed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The NLRB put that petition on hold while it investigates the union's pending unfair labor practice charges, ABC12 reported. A hearing on the petition was postponed again last week, according to Michigan Public. The hospital says the NLRB has dismissed several of those charges.

What it means for you

The Genesys nurses held the line for more than a year and came back with their union and their seniority intact. They did not get a contract that differs much from what the hospital was already paying. Their hardest problem now is the one every long strike creates: getting their jobs back.

Federal labor law treats strikers differently depending on why they walked out. Workers striking over pay and conditions are "economic strikers." Their employer cannot fire them, but it can hire permanent replacements. If it does, returning strikers go on a preferential hiring list and get called back as jobs open. Workers striking over an employer's illegal conduct, called unfair labor practice strikers, "can be neither discharged nor permanently replaced," according to the NLRB.

Henry Ford has publicly promised "a job for every nurse who wants to return to work" with no loss of seniority. We call on the hospital to keep that promise in the return-to-work deal it is negotiating now, in writing, for every striker.

If you are on strike or considering one, ask your union whether the strike is an economic or unfair labor practice strike. When it ends, make an unconditional offer to return in writing and keep a copy. If you are passed over for a job you held, you can file a charge with the NLRB, which can order back pay for strikers unlawfully denied reinstatement.

After 411 days on strike, Flint-area nurses vote to go back. The hospital filled many of their jobs.