UW Health nurses seeking union recognition deliver official notice of strike Sept. 13-16
MADISON — UW Health nurses notified hospital officials Friday of their intention to strike, a legally required 10-day notice.
Barring a discussion between nurses and hospital officials in which an agreement is reached to recognize the nursing union, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, the strike will be held Sept. 13-16.
"This is unfortunate given that a strike will do nothing to alter the legal uncertainties surrounding the health system’s ability to collectively bargain," Emily Kumlien, UW Health spokesperson, said in a statement. "Since the original announcement of the planned strike, UW Health is focused on the continued safety and quality care for all patients, ensuring patient care is impacted as minimally as possible."
The notice was sent by email from SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin President Pat Raes late Friday afternoon. Raes is a nurse at Meriter Hospital in Madison.
"I feel like we don’t have any other options at this point," said Amelia Zepnick, a nurse with UW Health hospital for three years. "We have tried everything."
The notice follows a vote taken by hundreds of nurses Aug. 24 in which 99% approved moving forward with the strike.
Prior to the vote, more than 1,500 UW Health nurses signaled their support for a union by signing an online form — first in 2019 and again this year.
"It doesn’t seem to matter how many signatures we get in support of union recognition," Zepnick said. "The hospital just says, 'OK. Thank you.'"
In an Aug. 25 statement issued by UW Health in response to the vote to strike, hospital officials called the decision "disappointing."
"While we hope SEIU reconsiders this unfortunate decision, we must take them at their word that a strike will happen," said Emily Kumlien, the UW Health spokesperson.
Kumlien said the hospital will focus its efforts "on protecting our 700,000 patients from care disruptions" as the Sept. 13 strike date approaches.
There is a chance a three-day strike will be occurring in Minnesota on overlapping dates as the strike in Madison. The union representing some 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Duluth said Thursday it will launch a three-day strike against 16 hospitals starting Sept. 12.
Tami Burns has worked at UW Health since 2017. She is a nurse in the hospital’s heart and vascular progressive care unit.
"This has not been a secret. The 10-day notice is the final push," Burns said. "It gives the hospital every opportunity to hire travelers (travel nurses) and move around managers to make sure they have the staffing they need for the hospital to keep patients safe."
On Labor Day, the nurses will hold a press conference on their unionization efforts and what they consider unsafe working conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic. They will likely focus on patient safety and nurse-to-patient ratios, both of which they feel have been compromised.
The press conference at Madison LaborFest will follow a stop by President Joe Biden at Milwaukee's Laborfest to honor "the dignity of American workers," according to the White House. The time of Biden's appearance has not yet been made public.
The vote for union recognition has been brewing since 2011 when the state Legislature, under the direction of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, passed Act 10. Under that state law, UW Health was removed from the state's Labor Peace Act, which required UW Health to recognize employee unions and collectively bargain with them.
The hospital did not renegotiate the nurses' contract when it expired in 2014, citing Act 10 as a reason.
In the opinion of the nurses, clarity came on June 2 when Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul issued a formal opinion that stated University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority, which includes UW Health, can voluntarily engage in the collective bargaining process with its nurses. But it does not have to.
Amanda Klinge, a six-year registered nurse in the orthopedic trauma unit at UW Health, said she plans to participate in the strike to "stand for quality patient care for my community and the well-being of frontline nurses.”
“When my nurse colleagues and I see potentially preventable patient care problems occur day after day because of extreme understaffing, it is damaging to our psyche and our very soul," Klinge said. "This is not how our healthcare system should be run. We refuse to accept this as the ‘new normal.’”
Jessica Van Egeren is the health and science enterprise reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at jvanegeren@gannett.com or 920-213-5695.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW Health nurses seeking union recognition give 10-day strike notice
