From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Workers at Rogers Behavioral Health facilities in Madison and West Allis will vote this week on whether to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
National Labor Relations Board Regional Director Jennifer Hadsall has scheduled a union representation election for Wednesday, having rejected a challenge by the employer that argued in part that establishing separate union groups for the sites would be inappropriate.
About 36 workers are eligible to vote in Madison, while 63 are eligible to vote in West Allis, according to details from NUHW. If the unionization effort is successful, these locations would have separate bargaining units and would negotiate separate contracts.
The union claims the employer — a nonprofit based in Oconomowoc — has “chosen to hire union busters” to intimidate workers in West Allis and Madison. The company reportedly fired two nurse practitioners and one doctor at the West Allis Clinic in February following the unionization effort, which NUHW argues was a “clear violation” of federal labor laws.
Rogers Behavioral Health intends to appeal the decision before the full NLRB board, according to an emailed statement.
“We are disappointed with the NLRB regional office’s decision to allow separate bargaining units given that Rogers Behavioral Health operates as one unified system across Wisconsin,” the statement reads. “Fragmented operations and third-party representation do not reflect the care we deliver.”
In challenging the effort, the employer’s argument was that its 13 locations in the state should be considered a single bargaining unit. In her decision, Hadsall wrote the facilities in question “generally operate independently of other Employer facilities, and there is little evidence of regular contact between employees working at different facilities.”
More than a dozen state and local elected officials have expressed support for the union effort in a February letter to Rogers CEO Cynthia Meyer, urging the company’s leadership to re-hire the workers it fired and “stop wasting patient care dollars on union busters” paid to intimidate workers.
Meanwhile, the employer’s statement argued “a union is not right for Rogers Behavioral Health in Wisconsin because it jeopardizes our ability to work together to solve problems quickly and flexibly — the very approach that makes our care model successful for patients and providers.”
Stephani Lohman, one of the fired nurse practitioners, argued she was fired to “try to stop the union drive” in Wisconsin.
“I’m going to keep fighting to get my job back and continue to build a union that will give us the voice we need to make sure that our patients get the care they deserve,” she said in a statement provided by the union.
See more in the union’s release below.
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— The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has named entrepreneur Dr. Goutham Narla the new chief scientific officer for WARF Therapeutics.
This program partners with UW-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to advance potential drug candidates, with a goal of developing new therapies and bringing them to market.
Narla started in the role earlier this month, succeeding Jon Young, who has led the program since it began in 2018. He hails from the University of Michigan, where he’s worked as a professor of internal medicine and human genetics, as well as chief of genetic medicine.
He also founded a biotech firm called Rappta Therapeutics, which is developing cancer therapies alongside Connecticut-based partner SpringWorks Therapeutics.
Narla says he’s excited to work with the “world-class team” at WARF alongside top researchers in Madison to advance the next great discoveries.
“This is truly a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact in patient care,” he said in a statement.
See the release below.
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