Kellen Gildersleeve, a labor and delivery nurse in Austin, has just helped birth one of the Texas labor movement’s biggest victories in recent memory. Last week, nurses at Ascension Seton Medical Center voted overwhelmingly to join National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ union in the United States. Approximately 800 nurses will be covered by the union, which is now entering contract negotiations with hospital management.
“I’m so excited to be a part of something that’s so historic,” Gildersleeve said. “We have been talking about this for a long time.”
Three years of poorly managed pandemic working conditions, on top of existing staffing issues, became the last straw for Gildersleeve and hundreds of her colleagues at the hospital. Although some of the challenges these nurses hope to overcome are unique to the healthcare field, their victory is a watershed moment for workers in industries across Texas. Union representatives hope their victory at Ascension Seton will inspire more Texas nurses to organize.
