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…