Madison, Wisc. – On Aug. 5, SSM filed a request for review of St. Mary’s Hospital nurses’ union election certification with the federal National Labor Relations Board. Below is a statement from a St. Mary’s nurse.

“SSM executives should be working collaboratively with St. Mary’s nurses to solve the crisis of extreme understaffing, burnout and turnover in our hospital, not wasting resources trying to undermine our union voice. They need to drop their objections to our union election and do what is right for our patients, our profession and our community. 

“St. Mary’s nurses voted by 89% to form our union, and we have a clear mandate to sit down and negotiate a contract with urgent improvements in staffing and retention. We’ve been very disappointed that SSM has instead filed a request for review with the federal National Labor Relations Board. SSM has also continued their pressure tactics inside our hospital, which have included threatening nurses with disciplinary action for union activity, destroying our union information and confiscating our union materials. 

“These tactics distract from patient care delivery and cause us further anxiety, when we are already struggling with understaffing, stress and exhaustion. They also go against our local Madison and Wisconsin values. 

“St. Mary’s nurses are moving forward with filling out our surveys to determine our contract priorities. We look forward to starting negotiations, which SSM is required under law to engage in, so we can raise patient care standards throughout our region.”

-Zach Zahalka, who has been a nurse for 17 years and works in the cardiac catheterization lab at St. Mary’s, on behalf of St. Mary’s Nurses United of SEIU Wiscons