Tallying begins Friday. The nurses submitted a petition for a 9,618-member bargaining unit. If approved, it would represent nurses at 9 hospitals.

Ballots by the nurses at the largest health system in Michigan were counted in the National Labor Relations Board election, said a message sent out.

Nurses at Michigan's largest healthcare system, Corewell Health, voted to be represented by Brotherhood of Teamsters in a historic decision

Among 9,775 eligible voters, 4,958 voted in favor of unionizing. There were 2,957 votes against. The union will represent nurses at nine locations.

Kevin Moore, president of Joint Council 43, which represents all Teamsters in Michigan, expressed confidence last month that the nurses would vote overwhelmingly to join the union. “It’s about rights, dignity and proper pay,” he said at the time. “They’re exhausted. They can’t even take lunch or breaks. They’re eating on the run.”

Friday (Nov. 15) night, chants and cheers filled Nemo’s in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood as nurses gathered to celebrate the historic outcome. “Who are we? Teamsters! What do we want? A contract!” The nurses voted 4,958 to 2,957 to join the Teamsters, aligning themselves with over 57,000 other members.

Corewell Health’s Southeast Michigan nurses are now Teamsters. A majority of the 9,618 nurses that work at the former Beaumont Health’s eight regional hospitals voted in favor of joining the union Friday.

More than 9,600 nurses at nine Southeast Michigan hospitals in the Corewell network have voted to join the Teamsters, one of the largest union elections in 20 years. These new members will now join more than 57,000 other Teamsters.