MADISON – Hundreds of nurses with UW Health voted Wednesday to hold a three-day strike in September if hospital administrators do not recognize their union, an escalation in a yearslong fight to regain bargaining rights.þþThe vote, taken over two separate Zoom calls that ended at 9 p.m., sets the clock ticking for the UW Health Board and administrators to meet with nurses and agree to again negotiate with their union, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin. If they don't, the hospital system could see nurses participating in a strike from 7 a.m. Sept. 13 until 7 a.m. Sept. 16. þþZach Sielaff, 39, has worked for nine months as a pediatric operating room nurse at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison. He was among the 99% of nurses who voted to move forward with the strike.þþÿWe are ready to take this step and strike because the hospital hasn't left us any other options,ÿ Sielaff said. ÿWe are giving the hospital notice and patients in the long term will get better care than they are getting now.ÿþþEmily Kumlien, a UW Health spokesperson, called the decision by SEIU to authorize a strike ÿdisappointing.ÿþþÿThey will harm patients knowing that their actions will not gain them an answer to these legal questions,ÿ Kumlien said in a statement Thursday. ÿThey will also harm patients knowing there is a better option.ÿþþUniversity of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinic Authority, the formal name for the health care system, includes several clinics in the greater Madison area, as well as UW Health (hospital), Madison East Hospital and the American Family Children's Hospital. The system is among the best in Wisconsin. It employs 3,400 nurses, with the union estimated to include 2,600 nurses. þþNurses interviewed by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin said they are leaving the door open for dialogue with top management.þþIf management does not recognize the union, the nurses will provide a 10-day notice to UW Health so administrators can make preparations to ensure patient safety, as is required by federal labor law.þþThe vote comes during a nationwide nursing shortage — a shortage the Wisconsin Hospital Association said in a March report had reached ÿa tipping point,ÿ a reality exacerbated in Wisconsin by long delays at the state's licensing agency. þþAs the COVID-19 pandemic drags into its third year, the shortages have contributed to burnout and concerns among nurses over increasingly higher staff-to-patient ratios. Nurses across the country, including earlier this month in Minnesota, are threatening to strike if working conditions do not improve. þþPrior to Wednesday's 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. þþWisconsin hospitals with SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin nurses' unions include Meriter Hospital in Madison, Aspirus Riverview in Wisconsin Rapids, Gundersen Health in La Crosse and ThedaCare in Appleton. Those nurses would not be participating in the strike, as their unions are recognized by their employers.
Source: postcrescent.com
