St. Mary's Nurse Emily Berceau on Organizing and the Fight Ahead

St. Mary’s labor and delivery nurse Emily Berceau discusses the seven-year organizing campaign at SSM Health in Madison, Wisconsin, from a 2019 push that reached 40% signed cards before COVID derailed it through multiple subsequent efforts to the June 2026 vote where more than 800 nurses chose SEIU Wisconsin 89% in favor, the management tactics along the way including threats of suspension for wearing a Nurses United badge reel and what safe staffing ratios, fair compensation and seniority protections mean for the first contract fight now underway.