On September 1, nearly 750 nurses working at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc went on strike, which caused a huge uproar within the community.

Nurses on strike started demanding an improvement in safety for patients and better working conditions. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says that the nurses’ contracts and staffing ratios are in need of improvement. Nurses were often assigned over 10 patients per shift as opposed to a safer ratio of 4-5 patients per shift. As of now, according to CBS News and Teamsters, the hospital says that little progress has been made to get the ratios and staffing benefits under control. Although the nurses were offered pay raises by Henry Ford Health, they felt that it fell short of their expectations and did not accept it.

“Patients should be able to seek care and safely be taken care of in the hospital but for the past five years that is not what is happening,” an anonymous source stated.

The longer the strike goes on with no progression, the more patients are affected by this. Because nurses on strike decided to stop working at the hospital, more and more patients are not getting the care and support they need. This can affect students and staff at FHS who rely on the Henry Ford nurses for care.

The strike is also affecting not only hospitals and patients, but other industries as well. Traveling nurses around the U.S. are trying their best to fill in the spots of nurses on strike. This means that industries like hotels and/or motels are having to act fast as many last-minute bookings and reservations are placed.

“Since they were a last-minute booking,” FHS parent and Auburn Hills Marriott Senior Corporate Sales Manager Diane Ferich said. “We had to act fast with contracts, as well as coordinating arrivals and departure times.”

Nearly 100 days later, the strike is still ongoing and hundreds of nurses represented by Teamsters Local 332 can still be seen on the picket line.