(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority is not legally required to recognize or collectively bargain with a nurses’ union.
The case centered on whether Service Employees International Union Healthcare Wisconsin could legally compel UW Health to engage in collective bargaining wages under the Wisconsin Peace Act, a labor law normally used for private-sector unions.
While attorneys for the union argued the hospital functions like a private employer and that nurses can therefore demand union recognition, the Court rejected that argument in its ruling.
The justices held that Wisconsin Act 10, a 2011 law that limits limits public-sector union bargaining rights, had removed UW Health from the Peace Act’s coverage.
“When we examine the statutory language along with the statutory history, we conclude that Act 10 ended the collective bargaining requirements formerly placed on the [University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics] Authority,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote in the opinion.
As a result, UW Health is under no legal obligation to negotiate with its nurse union, and the union has no legal power to compel wage bargaining.
More than 2,600 bedside nurses are a part of UW Nurses United.
While UW Nurses United reacted with disappointment to the decision, they said they “are not deterred.”
“Working people across Wisconsin have been fighting to rewrite the rules that have prioritized corporations and billionaires over working people for decades, and while the fight has not been easy, we continue to make progress,” the nurses said in a statement. “Our fight at UW is no exception.”
The statement cites the nurses’ 2022 walk-out and agreement with UW Health establishing a union to avoid a strike, a deal that is set to last through 2027.
The nurses said they would continue looking for ways to restore full collective bargaining rights, including passing new legislation through the state legislature and electing “pro-worker lawmakers.”
However, UW Health lauded the Supreme Court’s decision, noting that the court’s ruling followed the opinions of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and the Dane County Circuit Court, which had ruled in favor of UW Health beforehand.
“UW Health appreciates the court’s deliberate, diligent and final review,” a spokesperson for UW Health said in a statement.
