STATEMENT FROM THE UW HEALTH NURSES UNION
On January 23, 2020, the nurses union at UWHCA shared a legally-vetted memo with the UWHCA Board of Directors reiterating our demands that the Board recognize our union, direct the hospital and clinics administration (UW Health) to enter into a meet-and-confer process, and restore the just-cause standard and Weingarten rights for all.
The purpose of the presentation to the Board was to clarify exactly what we are asking for, and how it is compliant within the context of Act 10. The Board raised no objections, asked few questions, and sought little further clarification.
You can imagine how disappointed and surprised we were to see the Board’s statements in the media claiming that they cannot recognize our union voluntarily, when they made no such claim to us when we were present to discuss it with them.
This is exactly why we need union recognition and a process for collaboration in which nurses will have a real, meaningful voice. In the middle of a national nursing shortage, when morale is low at UWHCA and turnover is getting higher, we approached the Board in good faith to tell them what we, the nurses, need.
The UWCHA Board chose, again, to ignore us as we tell them what we need to provide the highest quality care, to protect our patients and ourselves, to feel valued and respected.
We are NOT asking to be represented by SEIU HCWI as a collective bargaining agent; that would be in violation, and UW is barred from reaching a collective bargaining agreement with us even if they chose to do so.
Our request is more modest, but no less important to us as frontline caregivers: that the Board do the only thing that they CAN do under Act 10, which is to voluntarily recognize our union and agree to a meet-and-confer process.
Rather than respecting the time and effort we put into our research and presentation today, UW Health has chosen to ignore us and release a prepared statement—prepared even before we spoke to them to address their concerns—that has no basis in legal reality. Rather than engaging in a meaningful dialogue about the lawfulness of our demands, UW Health released a statement which is either willfully ignorant or profoundly dishonest.
As we have said many times before, if we felt the status quo was sufficient for us to fulfill our potential as professional nurses, we wouldn’t have put forth our demands at all. As a union, we have done our homework and know full well that the UW Health Board can choose to meet our demands.
UW Health nurses have formed a union. We know from the outpouring of support in recent weeks that the community stands with us. We will not accept this insult to our professionalism and our strength. It is our duty to advocate fiercely and fearlessly for our patients, and fighting for our union is the best way we know how to do that. We will continue to make our case with reason, thoroughness, and honesty. We encourage UW Health leadership to do the same.
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