Three employees at Rogers Behavioral Health’s West Allis outpatient clinic say they were shown the door just days after handing management a petition to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers, and they are calling it retaliation for organizing. Union supporters say the sudden departures have left the remaining team scrambling to cover patients, while nurse practitioner Stephani Lohman points to mounting caseloads and a recent shift in how clinicians are classified as the spark for the union drive.
As reported by WISN, Lohman said she and two coworkers delivered the petition last Wednesday and were fired the following Monday. "Oh, I thought, I'm about to get fired for forming a union," she told the station. 63 staffers signed the petition at the West Allis clinic and 36 signed at Rogers’ Madison location. Clinicians told the outlet that caseloads have jumped, in some cases from four to six patients up to as many as 16, and that they believe patient care has taken a hit as a result.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers says it has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board and is demanding that the fired workers be brought back, according to a union statement reported by WisPolitics. Recent NLRB filings separately list a representation petition for the West Allis clinic and show related activity for the Madison unit, according to NLRB. That paperwork could lead to a formal union election or a separate investigation into whether the terminations violated the National Labor Relations Act.
Rogers Behavioral Health has kept its public response short. The provider issued a brief statement acknowledging receipt of the union petitions and saying it is working with the NLRB on next steps, while declining to comment on personnel matters, according to reporting by WisBusiness. The company added that clinics and services remain open and that its focus is on serving patients in the community.
Organizers say the union push grew out of operational changes at Rogers, including reclassifying many clinicians from salaried to hourly and removing caps on caseloads, changes that staff argue have left teams short-handed and patients with less continuity of care, according to Wisconsin Health News. The National Union of Healthcare Workers points to recent voluntary union recognitions at Rogers clinics in California and a December recognition in Philadelphia as examples of what organizers hope to secure in Wisconsin, per the union’s own posts and releases on NUHW.
What the NLRB Can Do
If a regional NLRB office finds merit in the union’s unfair labor practice charge, the agency can investigate and seek remedies that put employees back in the position they would have been in if the alleged violation had not occurred. That can include reinstatement or monetary relief, according to the board. The agency also conducts representation elections when petitions meet its criteria and, in urgent situations, can ask a federal court for an injunction to halt alleged unlawful conduct, per NLRB guidance.
Local labor groups are lining up behind the fired workers. The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council have urged Rogers to reinstate the three employees and to stop what they describe as union busting, according to local statements reported by Urban Milwaukee. With petitions and charges now on file, organizers say they expect the dispute to move through the NLRB process in the coming weeks, and that the agency’s next administrative steps will determine whether the case ends in an election, further legal action, or both.
