MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — Union workers for the Michigan Department of Human Services (MDHHS) took to the picket line to protest what they say are unrealistic work expectations.
“What do we want? More staff. When do we want it? Now.”
About 50 people chanted and marched in protest at noon Wednesday in front of the Muskegon Heights office for the Department of Human Services.
The informational picket was organized by UAW Local 6000, who represents state office workers. That includes around 130 workers at the Muskegon Heights office.
The union says this is the sixth picket they have held across the state to protest what they say are bad working conditions.
Ray Holman, UAW Local 6000 recording secretary, says, “Our case workers are overwhelmed. They have unrealistic expectations. And what that means is we're not able to serve the population of Michigan the way we need to.”
The union says that the department is understaffed with a revolving door among new employees.
“We're drowning right now. We don't have enough caseworkers; the expectations on our frontline staff are ridiculous. People aren't allowed to use annual leave or sick leave because we're so short staffed.”
Holman also says other issues include lack of training and difficult to use software, making it hard to serve their clients.
“Our caseworkers are responsible for investigating child abuse, investigating child neglect, making sure people had food on their table, making sure people had energy," says Holman. "These caseworkers have an ultimate responsibility and we want to make sure they have the proper training, we have the proper staffing."
Workers feel they are not respected and want a voice on how to best take care of their clients. The union plans on continuing to work with management to solve these problems.
Holman says, "We're going to be holding more informational pickets around the state until the conditions for our UAW Local 6000 [improves] ... so we can be successful in our mission to protect Michigan citizens."
The UAW says they hope to have these issues resolved before their contract runs out at the end of the year.
MDHHS responded with this statement:
"We value the contribution of every MDHHS team member to deliver much-needed assistance to Michigan families. We are all on one team working with one goal: to better serve Michiganders each day. Part of that means delivering competitive pay, premium health care/dental/eye benefits, access to a 401k that has a higher match than most employers and flexibility on work-from-home. The department has been successful in hiring more staff recently -- thanks to our competitive compensation – which will help balance workload and ensure caseworkers can give their undivided attention to Michiganders who need help. We will continue to work in partnership with UAW Local 6000 and all of our other world-class unions that represent hardworking Michiganders in MDHHS."
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