More than 9,000 registered nurses with Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan have voted to unionize.

The nurses voted last week to join the Teamsters as they seek better healthcare and staffing levels. The vote was decisive, with more than 60% of the nurses voting in favor of unionization.

The Brotherhood of the Teamsters says this was one of the largest union elections in about two decades.

Corewell Health says it’s committed to moving forward together with its nurses to provide high-quality healthcare to patients.

Last week’s vote does not affect Corewell operations here in Southwest Michigan. Corewell tells us this is just about the system’s nurses in the Southeast corner of the state.