Disputes between the National Union of Healthcare Workers and Rogers Behavioral Health continue after a recent vote in favor of unionizing, with NUHW once again accusing the employer of “illegally” firing workers associated with the effort.
About two weeks after dozens of workers at Rogers sites in West Allis and Madison voted to join the union, NUHW on Friday issued a statement claiming the care provider had fired three more workers at the West Allis facility.
The union says Rogers has now “fired six staunch union supporters” there since earlier this year, including a doctor and two nurse practitioners who were previously fired in February after telling the employer workers were seeking to join the union.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Rogers says “we have acted in compliance with applicable law, professional licensure requirements” and its own organizational policies and procedures.
In the latest round of firings, the company allegedly let go two mental health clinicians who put on “costumes” on April 22 when the union votes occurred, as well as a front desk worker who didn’t prevent the three previously fired workers from entering the facility to vote.
Kate Zolandz, one of the mental health therapists who was fired, says she will “fight to get my job back” and accused her former employer of trying to intimidate workers. The union says she put on a cape for 30 minutes during lunch and her attire was later referenced as cause for her being fired.
Zolandz had agreed to serve as the vote count monitor for the union before being suspended, according to NUHW. Rogers also allegedly threatened to “discipline” her if she joined a panel discussion held by local media.
“We’re all going to demand that Rogers respect our rights, follow the law and bargain a contract that lets us provide the best possible care for the people we serve,” Zolandz said in a statement provided by the union. “That’s what Rogers did when workers in California unionized, and that’s what Rogers is going to have to do here in Wisconsin.”
In response to the union’s allegations, the spokesperson for the employer said Rogers “takes the safety and wellbeing of our patients seriously” and said its professional conduct standards exist in part to protect them.
“Those standards apply to every employee, consistently and regardless of their views on union representation,” the spokesperson said in an email over the weekend. “Our focus continues to be on serving the patients in our community.”
Rogers Behavioral Health, based in Oconomowoc, has agreed to contracts for workers at facilities in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego which NUHW calls “among the best in the industry.” They include “strong” raises for workers, caseload limits and guarantees workers won’t lose their jobs to AI and other technology.
Labor negotiations with other workers in Philadelphia are ongoing, Friday’s announcement notes.
Meanwhile, the federal labor board is now investigating April’s 54-4 union election in West Allis, according to NUHW.
The union alleges the company “refused to allow” a union representative to enter the facility, potentially preventing ballot counting. Another worker volunteered to observe the vote count after this occurred and Zolandz was suspended, the union says.
The other April election at the Madison location, where workers voted 24-4 in favor of joining, hasn’t been challenged by Rogers, per the release.
But the company has filed complaints about the West Allis election and claims the union “organized a trespass” because the previously fired workers entered the facility to vote, the union notes.
The latest developments come after Rogers previously tried to stop the union elections from happening by claiming its 13 Wisconsin locations should be considered a single bargaining unit, but that effort was rejected by National Labor Relations Board Regional Director Jennifer Hadsall.
See the union’s latest release.
See more in recent coverage of the unionization effort.