
UW Hospital
UW Hospital nurses, who lost their union five years ago after a 2011 state law ended collective bargaining for state employees, are trying to revive the union and asking the hospital board to voluntarily recognize it.
Leaders of the effort, who announced the move Thursday, said some general medical unit nurses must care for up to eight patients at a time, when the maximum should be four. Crowding is forcing some patients “to spend the nights in the emergency room hallways instead of a dedicated bed in the correct department,” and nurses fear retaliation if they advocate for patients, they said.
“Our movement is essentially an uprising by UW nurses facing unacceptable changes to staffing levels and nurse/patient ratios,” said Chuck Linsenmeyer, a nurse who works in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. “There is a widespread sense among nurses in our hospital system of being unsupported by the hospital administration to provide the kind of nursing care that our patients expect and deserve.”
Mariah Clark, an emergency room nurse and another leader of the union effort, said a critical care float nurse pool was dissolved and some units have been shut as less acute patients have been sent to other hospitals, putting some nurses out of work.
“By joining together in a strong union, we can raise standards and make sure that UW Hospital stays the best place to work and receive care,” she said.

UW Hospital nurse Mariah Clark, top left, is joined by other nurses and supporters Thursday at First Unitarian Society in Madison, where Clark talked about why the nurses are reviving a union.
UW Hospital spokesman Tom Russell said the hospital offers nurses competitive wages, has a tuition reimbursement program and has expanded a nurse residency program. Nurse staffing shortages have been a problem nationwide, though not as much in the Madison area, he said.
“We recognize that our nurses and staff are vital to our ability to provide the highest quality of care to our patients; and that is why we continue to develop aggressive and innovative programs to recruit, retain and train the nurses and staff that drive our remarkable care,” Russell said in a statement.
When asked if the hospital board would recognize or deal with the union, Russell said the hospital has “implemented many processes to obtain direct employee feedback, such as forums, the Employee Advisory Council and employee surveys. These avenues have provided valuable feedback that has helped shape the decisions and direction of the organization, enabling us to provide remarkable healthcare to our patients.”
The 2011 state law known as Act 10, promoted by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, banned most collective bargaining for most public employees. At UW Hospital — which became a public authority, separate from the university, in 1996 — the law prohibited the continuation of union contracts or bargaining with unions at all, hospital administrators said at the time.
About 2,000 nurses and therapists, which had been represented by the Service Employees International Union chapter SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, lost the union in 2014 when their contract expired.
SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin continues to represent nurses at UnityPoint Health-Meriter. Nurses at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital don’t have a union.
UW Hospital nurses said Thursday they gave the hospital board a letter saying they are reforming a union with SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin. The board “has the authority to voluntarily recognize and enter into a meet-and-confer process with our union ... with the goal of reaching an agreement regarding terms and conditions of employment,” the letter said.
The nurses said they want to discuss staffing best practices, nurse/patient ratios and two rights: a just-cause standard, as opposed to at-will employment; and the right to a union representative, advocate or witness during potential disciplinary conversations. Those rights were eliminated by current hospital leadership after the dissolution of the previous union, the nurses said.
“In recent years we have become increasingly concerned about a shift that we have experienced at (UW Hospital), a shift away from a core value of fully supporting top quality nursing care, and towards a value of prioritizing maximum corporate profits,” the letter said. “Unacceptable changes to staffing levels, nurse/patient ratios and the dissolution of key nursing departments have left thousands of professional nurses without the tools they need to provide the level of care we are capable of providing, and that our patients expect and deserve.”
Nurse turnover has increased and hospital leadership has not hired permanent replacements, exacerbating a staffing crisis, the nurses said.
Amy Lebowitz, a spokeswoman for the nurses, said the group has collected cards supporting the union from a “strong majority” of the 2,000 nurses the union represents, but she declined to provide a specific number.
When Walker proposed Act 10, Donna Katen-Bahensky, then CEO of UW Hospital, told hospital employees she “did not anticipate and certainly did not request” the law’s action regarding hospital unions. Three other unions were also dissolved; the four unions covered about 60% of the hospital’s 8,400 employees.
In a letter to Walker at the time, Katen-Bahensky said eliminating the hospital unions would have “no fiscal effect” on the state budget because the hospital gets no general purpose revenue.
Hospital administrators agreed in 2014 to boost pay temporarily, partly to counter increases in pension and health insurance costs the employees faced under Act 10.
Photos: Wisconsin Senate’s surprise Act 10 vote on March 9, 2011
Photos: Looking back at the night Act 10 passed in the Wisconsin Senate
Barca, Fitzgerald

State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, (right) clashes with state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, (left) during a meeting of the state Legislature's conference committee at the state Capitol on Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Conference committee Fitzgerald bangs the gavel while Barca protests

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald bangs the gavel over the protests of Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, right, during a hastily called conference committee meeting at which Republicans voted to send Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill back to the two chambers of the Legislature. Democrats charged that the meeting, called less than two hours earlier, was convened illegally. News of the vote drew throngs of protesters to the Capitol on Wednesday evening.
Scott Fitzgerald, Jeff Fitzgerald

Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, left, and his brother, House Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, leave the state Capitol Senate parlor after approving an amended version of the state's controversial budget bill.
Legislators, protesters

Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill deride legislators as they leave the senate parlor at the state Capitol where they voted to move forward on an amended version of the controversial bill.
C.J. Terrell, Jason Kempen, protesters

Opponents of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, including C.J. Terrell, foreground, and Jason Kempen, behind, demonstrate outside the senate parlor at the state Capitol as legislators inside move forward on an amended version of the controversial bill.
State senate prepares to vote

The state Senate prepares to vote after a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee Wednesday evening.
Protesters chanting

"Hell, no, we won't go," chant protesters after the state Senate passed the budget repair bill Wednesday evening.
Dale Schultz

State Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) responds to media questions after voting against the budget repair bill following a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011. Schultz was the lone Republican voting against the bill.
Amy Sue Vruwink

After a protester outside threw a snowball hitting a window at the state Capitol, State Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink (D-Milladore) implores protesters to remain peaceful during a press conference of Democratic state Assembly members after the state Senate passed the budget repair bill following a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Voting no

State Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) says "no" during a vote on the budget repair bill after a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011. Schultz was the lone Republican voting against the bill.
Peter Barca

State Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) speaks during a press conference of Democratic state Assembly members after the state Senate passed the budget repair bill following a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Tears after vote

Tears roll down the face of Liz Sanger of Madison after the state Senate passed the budget repair bill following a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Troopers in stairwell

Wisconsin State Troopers flood a stairwell after protesters rushed into the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Capitol interior

The state Capitol in Madison, Wis., has been reoccupied by protesters who rushed into the building after hours, Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Troopers confer

Wisconsin State Troopers confer after protesters rushed into the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
Watching protesters

Wisconsin State Patrol officers view demonstrators in the Wisconsin State Capitol Building after hundreds of protesters gained access to the building Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Protests at the Capitol have ramped up after Republican lawmakers passed an amended version of the state's controversial budget repair bill through the Senate. John Hart - State Journal.
Protesters

Protesters rush into the state Capitol at the West State Street entrance in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011. M.P. King-State Journal