St. Mary's Hospital nurses allege widespread union busting
Source: Cap Times
By Erin McGroarty
9 hrs ago
Allegations of union busting have emerged at SSM Health’s St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, where nurses say some employees have been threatened with unpaid suspension for wearing union-related badge holders within days of filing for a union election.
Nurses say they have been forced to remove union buttons while at work, told they cannot talk about the union while at work and had union fliers taken down from spaces including breakrooms, all violations of federal labor laws, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
Breanna Rhinesmith, a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital of two years, said she felt threatened by management during a meeting in which she said hospital administrators claimed she was violating the hospital’s “solicitation policy” by wearing a badge holder, often called a badge reel, that read “St. Mary’s Nurses United.”
Rhinesmith said SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital President Eric Thornton told her nurses would be suspended if they did not agree to remove the badge reel.
A total of 870 nurses at SSM Health's St. Mary's Hospital in Madison filed paperwork May 1 with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union vote. Nurses say management has responded with union busting behavior.
Ruthie Hauge
Read more: https://captimes.com/news/health/st-mary-s-hospital-nurses-allege-widespread-union-busting/article_ba37c239-9aaa-490c-9276-fa1966b460c7.html