HELENA — Registered nurses at St. Peter’s Medical Group’s Broadway and North clinics voted to unionize, joining the Montana Nurses Association Local #13.
A majority of nurses in these two clinics voted to join the union on Tuesday evening. The MNA Local #13 is already the established union for acute care nurses at St. Peter’s Health. MNA represents over 3,000 nurses in the state.
After the initial decision to vote, St. Peter’s hired an out-of-state consultant who was accused in a labor complaint. Hannah Sieracki, a registered nurse at the Broadway clinic, says she was disappointed by that decision.
“You know, like I said, we're looking forward to rebuilding trust and having a collaborative relationship with our leaders after this,” says Sieracki.
Sieracki herself was actually a part of this same union when she worked in the ICU at St. Peter’s. She says she voted yes to join the union under her new position in order to provide clearly defined processes of communication, accountability for management, protected benefits, and more of a voice for her and her fellow nurses.
“Great way for nurses to have their voices heard and really advocate for those fair wages and benefits that we all want,” says Sieracki.
St. Peter’s Health released a statement in regard to the election results:
“We respect the right our nurses have to be represented by a union. Going forward, we will work collaboratively with the union to negotiate a contract that is mutually beneficial for our nurses and the entire health system. We value our people, and we’re committed to collaborations that will create positive change and a rewarding employee experience for our nurses and all of our team members at St. Peter’s Health.”
