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Medical workers line Washington Street on Monday, braving the rain in a practice protest to show UPHS-Marquette that it is serious about its contract negotiations. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

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LARSON

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MARQUETTE – UP Health System-Marquette has issued a response to the practice protest held earlier this week. The demonstration was held to show UPHS that those participating were serious about their contracts and willing to act. The response from UPHS is as follows.

“At UP Health System-Marquette, providing safe, high-quality care to the people of the Upper Peninsula is a team effort, made possible by the skill, compassion and dedication of our nurses, techs and the support of our entire staff,” said the release sent by Janell Larson, Market Director, Marketing and Communications for UP Health System-Bell, Marquette and Portage.

“While we respect the MNA’s right to demonstrate, our focus is on continuing to negotiate new collective bargaining agreements with the Michigan Nurses Association that recognize the efforts of our registered nurses and technical employees and ensure our commitment to quality patient care for our community. We have bargaining scheduled for next week with the MNA for our RNs, and our goal is to reach a new agreement prior to contract expiration at the end of the month. We also have bargaining scheduled for early September with the MNA for our technical employees, and our goal is also to reach a new agreement prior to contract expiration. We will continue to negotiate in good faith as we work to achieve these goals.”

Contracts are continuing to be negotiated and no other updates are available.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.