To the Journal editor:

The Upper Peninsula Regional Labor Federation is delighted that with a 92% supermajority, ancillary staff at DLP/MGH voted to join the Michigan Nurses Association.

We applaud the exceptional speed and momentum of MNA organizers and the tremendous courage of the workers to stand together to bargain for better treatment for themselves and for us, their patients.

Corporations use union busting tactics that include messages that unions do not “guarantee anything.” On that count alone they are, sadly, not wrong. There are never any guarantees. In order to make improvements in our lives, workers of all types need to continuously come together to challenge those who would put people second to profits.

We need to be organized to fight together in order to be treated fairly in a corporate society that prioritizes profit over human lives. What unions can do is tilt the balance of power with our numbers and our solidarity.

Many of our working poor are now standing up against this broken corporate society.

They are not pushing back because they have been given generous federal unemployment benefits. It is because they had a moment to pause and escape the battle to put bread on the table and seek better work. They have come out of the kitchens and warehouses and witnessed the light of a better life beyond them.

It is our great hope that Duke LifePoint will put the lives of their workers and patients first, and bargain in good faith with the MNA to reach a fair contract with the newly unionized tech workers at the hospital. It is also our hope that other workers see the workers’ success and organize their own workplaces. It is our hope, too, that our lawmakers will pass the PRO Act in the Senate so that all workers who want to join unions are able to do that without obstruction, and that all workers who are in unions can take action without fear.

Corporations and the 1% will not go quietly into the night. They will use their billions to hoard their profits and power to keep workers tired, scared and often poor. Working people must join forces to be treated with dignity and be compensated fairly. The tech staff here have shown us the power of coming together and fighting side by side.

The UPRLF encourages all workers to do the same. We are here to stand with you.