The union announced Thursday that it will push lawmakers to reintroduce and pass legislation that would reinstate union rights at the UW Hospital and Clinics Authority, the corporate parent of UW Health hospitals and clinics. The bill, previously introduced as AB 999 and SB 965 in February, died without a hearing in the last session.

"This moment represents the beginning of a new era," said Colin Gillis, SEIU Wisconsin vice president for nursing and a UW Health nurse for nine years. "I'm really excited to have the opportunity, at long last after years of organizing and campaigning — knocking doors, doing phone banking, organizing with my co-workers — to have the opportunity to have a Democratic trifecta that can restore our collective bargaining rights, so that we can advocate for our patients and our community and ensure that Wisconsin has the healthcare system it deserves."

UW Health employees are not classified as state workers, but former Gov. Scott Walker's 2011 Act 10 — which stripped collective bargaining from most public employees — also eliminated state laws that had guaranteed union rights for UW Hospital & Clinics Authority employees since 1996. The last contracts expired in 2014.

In 2019, UW Health nurses announced they were joining SEIU Wisconsin. They sought voluntary talks with management, which were rejected. A series of legal memos argued that despite Act 10, existing state laws still supported union rights. Encouraged, nurses sought recognition and were again rebuffed. On the verge of a three-day strike in September 2022, Gov. Tony Evers brokered a deal between UW Health and the nurses that set up a court case. In a unanimous 2025 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that because of Act 10, state law does not require the hospital system to recognize or bargain with unions.

The 2022 agreement also established voluntary "meet and discuss" sessions between union representatives and management, which Gillis said have continued every other month.

"We have enjoyed a productive and collaborative relationship with our counterparts across the table in that process, but that process is no substitute for negotiation at the bargaining table," Gillis said, noting it does not lead to a formal contract. "Nurses know that a contract is, collective bargaining is, the most powerful tool they have to advocate for their patients and their co-workers and their communities."

Gillis said he and other SEIU members spoke with Democratic leaders — Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, state Rep. Greta Neubauer and Gov.-elect David Crowley — at campaign events before the Nov. 3 election.

"They gave me and my coworkers assurance, directly to our faces, verbally, that this would be a top priority," Gillis said. He added that he has not yet heard a timeline.

Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison), the lead Assembly author on the previous bills and newly elected Speaker Pro Tempore, said Thursday that the timeline and exact form of the legislation still must be determined.

"I'm definitely still committed to restoring collective bargaining rights for our UW Health nursing staff and others," Subeck said. "I think there is broad support among Democrats for restoring collective bargaining rights broadly."

She said it is "a little too soon to say exactly how these bills may be introduced and exactly what that timing would be." It also "remains to be determined" whether simply repealing Act 10 — as Democratic leaders have said they intend to do — would be sufficient to restore UW Health workers' union rights, she said.

"It's unfortunate that this hasn't happened already," Subeck said. "We all know that when the people who care for us, and in this case that's our nurses at UW, have a voice in their workplace and can have a role in working conditions, it is good for patient care."

Gillis said the February bill would offer stronger protections than simply repealing Act 10. AB 999 and SB 965 would allow a majority of employees to win union recognition by signing a petition rather than through an election — the only mechanism under current state law, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis. The measure also would require UW Health to allow unions representing current employees to provide information at new employee orientation sessions and to use the work email system to discuss workplace issues, administer contracts and organize.

An email inquiry to UW Health about the SEIU announcement and the prospect of such a law did not receive a response Thursday.

The push comes as Democrats prepare to take control of both the governor's office and the Legislature in January, giving the party its first trifecta in more than a decade. For UW Health nurses and other employees, the legislation represents a long-sought chance to gain a formal seat at the table over staffing, patient safety and working conditions.