Nurses at UnityPoint Health - Meriter Hospital rallied Tuesday afternoon in Brittingham Park, threatening to strike amid ongoing union contract negotiations concerning staffing ratios and compensation.
The “Strike Ready Rally” was held in advance of continued bargaining Wednesday between Meriter management and members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“If you care about patient care, if you want the community’s health and welfare to be prioritized, then you must take care of those that are doing the caring. And that means our nurses,” said Kevin Gundlach, president of the South Central Federation of Labor, speaking to the crowd.
The key issues nurses are rallying for include ensuring fair pay, safer nurse/patient ratios and improved workplace safety and security, according to Amanda Husk, a nurse attending the rally who said she has worked at Meriter for the past four years.
To reduce the risk of a single nurse being assigned more patients than they can safely attend to, California has legally mandated nurse/patient ratio maximums, such as 4:1 in general care, 2:1 in critical care and 1:1 in the operating room, according to the United Nurses Association of California.Wisconsin has no nurse staffing ratio laws.
“You can have the best nurse in the world, but if they have too many patients to care for, it is impossible to do those things to the very best of their ability,” said Husk. “It’s in all of our patients’ and [the] community’s best interest to have safe staff ratios.”
Another concern raised by nurses are the security systems at Meriter Hospital. During her speech, Pat Raes, president of SEIU and a nurse with 36 years of experience at Meriter, highlighted that, unlike Meriter, other local hospitals such as St. Mary’s and UW Health have metal detectors.
According to a 2023 survey, 81 percent of nurses have experienced at least one type of workplace violence in the past year. Nearly 67 percent reported being verbally threatened, while 38 percent of nurses reported being physically threatened while on the job, according to National Nurses United.
“We are told routinely that they do not have enough staff to run a metal detector,” said Raes.
Nurses pointed out that recent economic instability has made fair compensation feel much more important.
“We’re also really concerned about having fair compensation, with the rate of inflation and a potential recession,” said Husk. “Having a fair compensation package is important so we’re not losing ground. That’s going to be important to retain the excellent nurses we have.”
State Sen. Kelda Roys also stopped by the rally to speak and show solidarity with the nurses.
She shared a personal anecdote with the crowd about her eldest stepdaughter, an ICU nurse in Seattle. Sen. Roys said that her stepdaughter had worked in both unionized and nonunionized hospitals, and after seeing how it wasn’t as safe for patients, she said she’d never work without union protection again.
The previous collective bargaining agreement expired on March 16, and the next scheduled negotiation is set for May 1, according to the 2023 contract between Meriter Hospital and SEIU Wisconsin.
“We do not want to strike, but we will if we have to because our community and our patients are worth it,” said Raes.
