SSM Health appealing certification of union vote at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison
National Labor Relations Board staff certified the union election late last month after nurses voted 511-63 to unionize with the Service Employees International Union of Wisconsin.
SSM Health is appealing the National Labor Relations Board’s certification of a union vote by hundreds of nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, the health system announced Wednesday. National Labor Relations Board staffcertified the union election late last monthafter nurses voted 511-63 to unionize with the Service Employees International Union of Wisconsin. SSM Health filed objections to the election with the NLRB, but the labor boardoverruled the objectionsin their “entirety” because SSM provided “insufficient proof. ”Understanding Wisconsin, Together. WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter. In a statement Wednesday, the health system said it is seeking a review of concerns it raised “regarding fairness during the process leading up to and during the election. ”“During the election period, SSM Health raised objections regarding conduct that we believe affected the election environment and disrupted hospital operations,” the statement read. “We do not believe these concerns were adequately investigated before regional NLRB staff dismissed the objections and certified the election. ”SSMobjected to allowing the hospital’s charge nurses to participate in the union vote. More than 80 votes from charge nurses were not counted and would not have changed the results. SSM also objected to union supporters leaving cookies in the voting area. “Federal labor law provides the opportunity to seek review of regional decisions, and we are exercising that right by asking a higher level of the NLRB to consider our appeal,” the health system said. SEIU Wisconsin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But nurses at St. Mary’s told WPR earlier this summer that they wanted to form a union to addressunderstaffing, burnout and compensation issues. In a statement released after the NLRB certification, Zach Zahalka, who works in the cardiac catheterization lab at St. Mary’s, called on the health system to respect the union vote and to begin negotiating a contract. “SSM needs to stop trying to undermine our union, and instead focus all their resources on engaging with us productively so that together we can create real solutions for better staffing and retention to provide the best care,” Zahalka stated. Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.