Nurses at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital and Dean Medical Clinic have expanded a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the health system interfered with their efforts to organize with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The additional charges allege that SSM Health fired nurses for supporting union representation, threatened changes to working conditions if nurses voted to unionize, and required nurses to attend anti-union meetings under threat of discipline or termination. The complaint also alleges surveillance, the destruction or confiscation of union materials, and unequal rules that barred union insignia while allowing non-union materials. The claims have not been established by the NLRB. St. Mary’s nurses filed initial federal labor charges on Sept. 8, nearly two months after voting to unionize. Those charges accused SSM Health of refusing to negotiate a contract and interfering with workers’ labor rights. Dean Medical Clinic nurses have since unionized with SEIU and joined the complaint. The date the additional charges were filed was not specified. Michelle Camilleri, a nurse at SSM Health’s Dean Medical Group South Madison Campus, said organizing is connected to concerns about staffing and patient care. She said that while working in clinics, she sometimes was the only nurse responsible for as many as 30 patients, without sufficient orientation or training. “That astronomical workload causes so much wear and tear on your body and mind, and it’s deeply unfair to the patients we serve,” Camilleri said. She also said low pay and difficult conditions have led some colleagues to leave. SSM Health has challenged the certification of the St. Mary’s union election. At least one challenge has been overturned, while decisions on other appeals were pending at the time of the report. It was unclear whether the system would also challenge the Dean clinics’ election results. The expanded complaint comes amid disputes over workplace conditions and organizing at the Madison-area health facilities. The NLRB process will determine whether the allegations amount to violations of federal labor law.