MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a lawsuit from UW Health nurses seeking to unionize more than a decade after their union was dissolved by a Republican-backed law restricting collective bargaining for public employees.
Their fight comes amid a broader push by liberals to strengthen collective bargaining in Wisconsin.
Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers in Wisconsin in 2011 when he signed Act 10 into law. In 2014, when UW Health’s union contract with its nurses expired, the hospital system said Act 10 prevented it from negotiating a new one.
UW Health nurses tried to revive their union in 2019 and planned a strike in 2022 to force the hospital to recognize it. However, they called off the strike after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers helped broker a deal for the hospital and union to get answers on whether UW Health could legally recognize a union.
The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission ruled later that year that the hospital system was not legally required to recognize a union. Nurses challenged that ruling in the case the Supreme Court considered Wednesday.
Watch: Wisconsin Supreme Court hears lawsuit from UW Health nurses seeking to unionize
The nurses argue that UW Health, which is governed by a public authority but otherwise operates similarly to a private health system, is required to recognize their union under the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act, which governs private sector labor negotiations. However, Act 10 explicitly removed references to UW Health from the Peace Act.
A ruling in favor of the nurses would allow them to move forward with unionizing and chip away at the restrictions of Act 10.
“We could get an election, which would allow the nurses to decide whether or not they want a union with full collective bargaining rights, and then we could bargain a contract,” said UW Health nurse Colin Gillis, who has been involved in union organizing efforts since 2019.
A larger challenge to Act 10 is currently working its way through the courts. In December, a Dane County judge overturned the law, but his ruling is on hold while the case is on appeal. The state Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it was rejecting a request to bypass the appeals court in that case. The challenge is still likely to end up before the court eventually.
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