Pat Raes, a Meriter hospital nurse and president of SEIU Wisconsin, addresses union nurses and their supporters at a rally April 8, 2025. On Tuesday the union announced it would strike starting May 27. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
Nurses at Madison’s Meriter hospital plan to walk off the job for five days starting Tuesday, May 27, after negotiations on a new union contract ended Monday night without an agreement.
The hospital management and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Wisconsin, which represents about 950 nurses at the hospital, are divided over pay, security provisions and whether the hospital should commit to specific ratios of how many patients are under a nurse’s care.
“Nurses have been clear with Meriter management that we will strike for patient and staff safety, improved compensation to retain nurses, and staffing solutions that include the voices of bedside nurses who care for patients day in and day out,” declared a union statement issued Tuesday morning. “Meriter is still not listening to the nurses.”
The union and the hospital management have scheduled another bargaining session for Monday, May 26 — the day before the strike is scheduled to start. If the strike goes forward, it is scheduled to last for five days, with union members returning on Sunday, June 1…