MADISON, Wis.— SSM Health St Mary’s Hospital nurses voted to unionize on Thursday.
SEIU said 89% choose to form a union. Voting began on Thursday morning and ended at 8 p.m.
“Our patient advocacy doesn’t end at the bedside, and that’s why we formed our union,” said Emily Berceau, a nurse in the St. Mary’s labor and delivery department.
The vote count was 511 in favor of unionizing and 63 against. SSM Health is now required by federal labor law to sit down and negotiate a union contract with the nurses. The nurses’ next step will be filling out surveys to determine their contract proposals and forming their negotiating committee.
SSM Health sent the following statement to News 3 Now after the union vote was approved:
“We are grateful to the eligible nurses who took the time to carefully consider the factual, educational information we provided ahead of the National Labor Relations Board election at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – Madison.” “We would have preferred an outcome that allowed for continued direct engagement with our nurses.” “Regardless, we remain committed to continuing to collaborate with our entire team to maintain a compassionate, high-quality, healing environment where we all can do our best work in living out our mission to provide exceptional care for our patients.”
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