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Jilly_in_VA

(14,589 posts)
Sun May 10, 2026, 08:24 AM 4 hrs ago

St. Mary's Hospital nurses allege widespread union busting

Allegations of union busting have emerged at SSM Health’s St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, where nurses say some employees have been threatened with unpaid suspension for wearing union-related badge holders within days of filing for a union election.

Nurses say they have been forced to remove union buttons while at work, told they cannot talk about the union while at work and had union fliers taken down from spaces including breakrooms, all violations of federal labor laws, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Breanna Rhinesmith, a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital of two years, said she felt threatened by management during a meeting in which she said hospital administrators claimed she was violating the hospital’s “solicitation policy” by wearing a badge holder, often called a badge reel, that read “St. Mary’s Nurses United.”

Rhinesmith said SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital President Eric Thornton told her nurses would be suspended if they did not agree to remove the badge reel.

“We were told ‘You will be suspended without pay and sent home today until you agree to comply,’” Rhinesmith said in an interview with the Cap Times.

https://captimes.com/news/health/st-mary-s-hospital-nurses-allege-widespread-union-busting/article_ba37c239-9aaa-490c-9276-fa1966b460c7.html

This in a city that has always been heavily pro-union. SHAME, St Mary's!

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St. Mary's Hospital nurses allege widespread union busting (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA 4 hrs ago OP
a representative suggested wearing a union pin is as problematic as wearing a pin promoting the Klu Klux Klan. riversedge 4 hrs ago #1

riversedge

(81,459 posts)
1. a representative suggested wearing a union pin is as problematic as wearing a pin promoting the Klu Klux Klan.
Sun May 10, 2026, 08:34 AM
4 hrs ago

what a bunch of bull!!!

..........Kelsey Mueller, a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital of nine years, said she was ordered to remove an SEIU Wisconsin pin while at work. The Service Employees International Union represents health workers and public sector employees. When she questioned the order, Mueller said, she was referred to human resources, where a representative suggested wearing a union pin is as problematic as wearing a pin promoting the Klu Klux Klan.

https://captimes.com/news/health/st-mary-s-hospital-nurses-allege-widespread-union-busting/article_ba37c239-9aaa-490c-9276-fa1966b460c7.html

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