Talks between Meriter’s service and support staff and management remain at a standstill as the hospital refuses to budge on demands.
Service and support staff at UnityPoint Health-Meriter, 202 S. Park St., have been in contract negotiations since Feb. 17, 2026. Nine bargaining sessions have been held as employees represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Wisconsin have asked for an increase in pay, bereavement, tuition reimbursement, short- and long-term disability and dental insurance. Some progress has been made, but Meriter’s management has been unwilling to come up on pay.
On May 14, a rally was held outside of Meriter to bring attention to the stalemate. Service and support staff have continued to work as both parties have agreed to multiple contract extensions, the current through May 25, but SEIU has called on Meriter to come back to the table to bargain.
“You might remember, we were all here a short period of time ago, March 26 to be exact, and we were demanding a fair contract with Meriter and UnityPoint,” said Michael Elvord, a service and support staff member and part of the bargaining team. “The reason we’re here again is that we are still demanding that, and they are refusing to bargain in good faith.”
A pay increase that reflects an increase in cost of living has not been granted. The current rate offered by management is a 1.01% annual step increase and an across the board 2.48%. The rate is a 50% decrease from the previous pay increases.
In the middle of discussions, UnityPoint gave high-paid administrative staff a 25% raise, which irked the union’s bargaining team.
“I’m tired, and not the tired giving up tired,” Elvord said. “They are not interested in you as workers or as people. Let’s get this straight: this is a hostile environment, and they are hostile towards us.”
The stall in discussions has led to a federal mediator stepping in. The mediator determined that UnityPoint Meriter was not willing to increase its offer. The hospital suggested ending the meeting early and, in what SEIU called an “unprecedented and hostile move,” deducted an hour of pay from each bargaining team member.
To add in hostile actions from management, the hospital issued a formal denial of a request to distribute cookies to staff during Nurse Appreciation Week.
Staff like Amy Ward, a certified nursing assistant and member of the bargaining team, always wanted to work for Meriter, but now feels unvalued by its management.
“I don’t feel like there’s respect from management across the table to us. I feel that they just feel that we’re going to take whatever deal they toss at us,” Ward said.
Management has sent out multiple emails to staff in hopes of pressuring them to take a deal, Ward said.
“Their emails that they’re sending workers saying, “Hey, reach out to the union to tell them that we’re taking this deal. It’s a good deal,’” Ward said. “They’re not telling the whole truth.”
The ongoing stalls have led to a loss of staff, which continues to exacerbate stress on employees.
“More and more CNAs are quitting as we’re actually out here speaking. I’ve been told about three more are gonna be leaving because of better offers somewhere else,” Ward said.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Wisconsin’s gubernatorial candidates voice their support
Gubernatorial candidates Kelda Roys, Francesca Hong, Sara Rodriguez, Mandela Barnes and David Crowley all have voiced their support for staff and for Meriter to bargain in good faith.
All except Crowley made it to the rally, as he was not able to make it at the last minute.
The present candidates all recognize the importance of supporting hospital staff, but took different points on why the fight is important.
Senator Roys has been a longstanding supporter and advocate for unions across Wisconsin. She also had her first child at Meriter.
“I was cared for by some of the very people that are here today. I’m here as a caregiver who has brought my family members at the hardest times of their lives here and seen how they not only care for my loved one, but cared for me as a caregiver,” Roys said.
Roys said she doesn’t necessarily have an issue with UnityPoint executives giving themselves large raises, but it cannot be at the backs of those who work for the hospital and struggle to get by.
She vowed to end Act 10, a 2011 law passed under former Gov. Scott Walker that stripped most public sector employees of their collective bargaining rights that had been used to suppress previous efforts of Meriter staff, come January, as new state leadership takes hold.
Representative Hong, who is running on a democratic socialist platform with populist policies, noted executive raises compared to the paltry raises offered to staff, as another example of extreme wealth transfer to oligarchs.
“You know, Meriter is technically a nonprofit hospital. That means they don’t pay federal taxes. They don’t pay property taxes. The taxpayers of Wisconsin, all of us, subsidize that institution every year on the purpose that money saved goes back into the community,” Hong said. “There’s no excuse to not meet the demands of our workers, and instead of investing that money in our workers who make it all possible, the people are spending it on executive compensation.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Lieutenant Gov. Rodriguez, a long-time nurse, urged Meriter to realize the importance of service and support staff to the hospital.
“These workers are not support staff … They are the hospital. Without them, the doors don’t open,” Rodriguez said. “Six years ago, the country called these workers essential. We clapped for them. We put signs in our windows, and we meant it.”
Essential stretches are more than just for times of extreme emergency. Dignity and respect offered then should be continued even now, Rodriguez said.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Former Lt. Gov. Barnes pointed to the continuous affordability crisis and the disappearing middle class.
“For those who don’t know my story, it started in Milwaukee. But even before I was born, my grandfather moved to the city of Milwaukee after his service in the Navy during World War II,” Barnes said. “He got a union job as a steelworker. He walked into the building one day, essentially walked out 35 years later, and he was able to retire with relative comfort and dignity.”
Barnes’ grandfather was able to create a middle-class foundation that Barnes, and many others, were able to benefit from to this day.
“I want to make sure that every child growing up in Wisconsin has at least the same opportunities that I had to get ahead,” Barnes said.
No planned bargaining sessions are currently planned as staff sit in limbo. They urge Meriter to come back to the table to negotiate further.
