Nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital and Dean Medical Group clinics have filed expanded charges against SSM Health for allegedly breaking federal law by firing, threatening and violating the rights of nurses, according to the healthcare union SEIU Wisconsin.
St. Mary’s Hospital and Dean Medical Group clinics are part of the SSM Health system, which quickly denied the union’s allegations.
Nearly 900 St. Mary’s nurses voted by 89% to form a union in June and 340 Dean nurses voted by 71% to unionize in September.
SSM Health has challenged the union vote at St. Mary’s Hospital with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that supervisory employees illegally voted.
The health care system has not officially challenged the outcome of the union election for Dean Medical Group nurses.
In its Oct. 8 filing with the NLRB, SEIU Wisconsin accused SSM Health of terminating nurses for advocating for a union voice, compelling nurses to attend anti-union “captive audience meetings” on discipline or discharge, and threatening nurses with changes to terms and conditions of employment if they voted to form a union.
The union also said SSM Health is surveilling nurses, destroying and confiscating nurses’ union information and materials, and discriminating against nurses by prohibiting the display of union informational materials and insignias while allowing the display of non-union related materials.
In a statement released after the filing, SSM Health denied the allegations.
“There has been no unlawful conduct. We respect and value all of our employees,” the statement said. “SEIU Wisconsin has made similar allegations in the past which the National Labor Relations Board dismissed. “We see SEIU’s allegations as another ongoing attempt to distract us from our mission to provide exceptional patient care.”
Nurses at both organizations have called on SSM to collectively bargain with them to address what they say is an understaffing crisis that has led to burnout and the loss of experienced nurses.
