Contact: Dave Bates, 347-865-8038, dave.bates@hailstonecommunications.com
Nurses say SSM should respect their 89% vote to unionize and work collaboratively with them to raise standards for their patients and profession
Madison, Wis. – On July 22, the National Labor Relations Board regional office overruled the objections of SSM Health and certified the union election for almost 900 nurses at St. Mary’s hospital. Nurses had voted by a landslide 89% to form their union on June 11, the largest private sector union election in recent state history. St. Mary’s nurses are calling on SSM to respect their vote, drop any further objections or requests for review, and begin negotiations to collaboratively address the severe crisis of understaffing, turnover, burnout and loss of experienced nurses at their hospital. They say they want to build a relationship with SSM based on mutual respect, open communication and cooperation toward shared goals, so that they can raise standards for their patients and profession throughout the region.
“The Labor Board has spoken, our community has spoken, elected leaders have spoken, St. Mary’s nurses have spoken, and we have resoundingly declared that it’s time for SSM to respect our union vote so we can start working on solutions for our patients,” said Zach Zahalka, who has been a nurse for 17 years and works in the cardiac catheterization lab at St. Mary’s. “As nurses, this work is a calling, and our primary role is to be our patients’ advocates. Forming our union is an extension of that patient advocacy, and we urgently have to solve the crisis of understaffing and loss of experienced nurses at St. Mary’s. We’re already moving forward with filling out surveys to determine our negotiation proposals. SSM needs to stop trying to undermine our union, and instead focus all their resources on engaging with us productively so that together we can create real solutions for better staffing and retention to provide the best care.”
The election at St. Mary’s is part of a growing national wave of healthcare professionals – including nurses, doctors and others – organizing unions to have a strong voice in improving patient care, staffing and retention. Staffing levels at St. Mary’s are around 40% below the Madison Metro average, ranking last out of seven area hospitals, according to Medicare data. Multiple clinical studies confirm that adequate nurse staffing levels are absolutely critical for patient safety and quality of care. Nurses say that as the medical professionals who actually provide direct patient care every day, they need to have a real seat at the decision-making table in a healthcare system that has become increasingly dominated by large corporations. Healthcare corporations too often prioritize expansion, branding and executive compensation over the needs of patients, nurses say.
Throughout their efforts, St. Mary’s nurses were inspired and supported by union nurses at UW Health and Meriter. Meriter nurses have been able to negotiate a strong union contract with a voice in staffing, a pay scale that rewards years of experience, fair scheduling and other supportive policies. Now, St. Mary’s nurses are looking forward to working with those other union nurses to continue building a region-wide movement for higher patient care standards.
Unfortunately, instead of engaging with nurses to solve problems, SSM has been spending resources on a corporate law firm to file objections with the National Labor Relations Board and running an ongoing pressure campaign inside the hospital. SSM’s tactics have included threatening nurses with disciplinary action for union activity, and destroying and confiscating their union materials. Nurses and community members say that the conduct of SSM, which is based in St. Louis, violates local Madison and Wisconsin values, as well as Catholic social teaching.
While St. Mary’s nurses have been struggling, SSM had $12.6 billion in operating revenue, $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and $483 million in profits last year, and SSM’s CEO had $7.8 million in compensation in 2024. Nurses say SSM has more than enough resources to address their concerns and negotiate a contract that ensures St. Mary’s is the healthcare provider and employer of choice.
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SEIU Wisconsin is the state’s largest and fastest-growing healthcare union, representing over 7,000 hospital, nursing home, home care and social service workers united to win quality care and good jobs for all.
