June 2026

Greetings Brothers, Sisters, and Siblings,

As some of you may already know, UMH Sparrow Lansing made a unilateral decision to outsource approximately 379 represented UAW Local 4911 members in our Support Operational Services and Food and Nutrition departments. This move was made without any prior knowledge or discussion with Local 4911 leadership. They have chosen to outsource to for-profit vendors who do not have cooperative offices in the State of Michigan. During the initial announcement meeting, the message was clear to our members that this move was based on quality and efficiency. During this meeting, our members were disrespected by hospital leadership as they delivered a prewritten statement with no emotion, empathy, or personal touch and did not deviate from the prepared remarks. When our members questioned hospital leadership they were met with deflection, refusal, and disrespect. I am extremely proud of all our members who asked questions and pushed back for answers and provided facts that further made hospital leadership seemingly uncomfortable. We pushed back so hard during the initial informational meetings that more informational meetings had to be scheduled for damage control with regional leadership. While we continue to work through what this means for our members, we continue to be met with resistance from the company and provided with little to no answers. We have been told by the company that both vendors are willing to recognize the UAW as the bargaining agent for both groups, but we have nothing in writing, nor have we had the opportunity to speak with these vendors. While we ratified our most recent contract on 02/07/2026 and had six months of negotiations that included these two groups, they will not be entitled to the amazing CBA if/when this move to vendors happens. We believe that UMH Sparrow Lansing had foreknowledge of this plan, up to when we were in contract negotiations. We are moving forward using every resource available to Local 4911 with the assistance of Region 1D and International to protect our members who are affected by this decision and the furthering of any more outsourcing of our members. Company leadership seems to have forgotten that UAW Local 4911 performs essential functions day in and day out—24 hours a day, 7 days a week—in caring for our community. We may not run this hospital but best be certain, this hospital does not run without us. We have a lot of work ahead of us but together we are ready for the fight. We appreciate the support we have already received from every UAW member, community member, and political leaders. 

In Solidarity,

Kim