Erik Gunn
Workers at Rogers Behavioral Health clinics in Madison (left) and West Allis (right) voted overwhelmingly in favor of union representation Wednesday. (Wisconsin Examiner photo collage; building images from Rogers Behavioral Health media files)
Employees of two Wisconsin clinics operated by Rogers Behavioral Health voted by large majorities in favor of union representation Wednesday after more than two months in which the mental health nonprofit had campaigned heavily against the union.
In West Allis, employees voted 53-4 in favor of joining the National Union of Healthcare Workers. In Madison, the vote to join the union was 26-4.
The Oconomowoc-based Rogers has not commented on the outcome.
The next step will be for the National Labor Relations Board to certify the results. But a federal lawsuit challenging the agency is still pending. In addition, Rogers said in public statements as well as in communications to the workers before the vote that the company would not begin bargaining with the union until all its appeals have been exhausted.
The nonprofit campaigned actively against unionization, telling employees that a union would not have been in the interests of the staff, the patients or the organization. In a final letter distributed on Monday, Rogers urged employees to vote no and made statements that the organization had made mistakes and wanted to be given another chance to improve relationships with the staff without a union.
Union supporters welcomed the outcome of Wednesday’s votes.
“We are thrilled with the overwhelming victory,” said Stephani Lohman, a nurse practitioner who was among those active in the union organizing campaign. “Over the last few weeks Rogers has shown us exactly why we need a union by running an aggressive anti-worker campaign, trying everything in their toolbox to intimidate and demoralize us, but it failed spectacularly because it was so cruel and wicked that it drove everyone to support the union.”
Lohman was one of three employees fired shortly after workers announced their petition for a union. The union has filed unfair labor practice charges over the terminations, claiming that the three were fired in retaliation for their support for unionization, which is illegal under federal law.
Rogers has declined to explain the firings, citing employment confidentiality, but said that it has not violated any laws.
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Courtesy of Wisconsin Examiner
Keywords
Health Care,
Work & the Economy,
National Union of Healthcare Workers,
Rogers Behavioral Health