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September 14, 2026: Approximately 150 inpatient and specialist attending physicians at Allina Health's Mercy Hospital (Coon Rapids, MN) and Unity Hospital (Fridley, MN), represented by Doctors Council SEIU, walked off the job at 7:00 AM CDT to begin a four-day unfair labor practice (ULP) strike (CBS News Minnesota Coverage; Fox 9 Minneapolis Report).
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September 11, 2026: More than 120 registered nurses at Hutchinson Health in Hutchinson, Minnesota (part of the HealthPartners system) voted overwhelmingly in favor of representation by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) in an NLRB representation election following their August 10 petition filing (MNA Press Release). The bargaining unit spans acute care, emergency, birth center, and outpatient specialty clinic RNs.
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September 9, 2026: In Catholic Health Initiatives Colorado d/b/a Centura Health–St. Mary Corwin Medical Center (375 NLRB No. 37), the NLRB ruled in a 2–1 decision (Chairman Murphy, Member Mayer; Member Prouty dissenting) that an employer may lawfully withdraw recognition from an incumbent union despite subsequent employer ULPs, provided that an untainted majority of unit employees (53%) had signed a disaffection petition before any employer misconduct began (VitalLaw Legal Analysis; NLRB Edge Summary).
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September 8, 2026: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Starbucks v. NLRB substantially reversed Board findings regarding employer campaign communications, holding that managerial statements explaining operational adjustments and hours restrictions under unionization are protected employer speech under Section 8(c) and Gissel rather than unlawful threats (NLRB Edge Fifth Circuit Review). Concurrently, the Second Circuit rejected the NLRB's Tesla standard restricting neutral employer uniform and dress-code policies (HR Law Watch Analysis).
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September 3, 2026: The NLRB finalized election dates for approximately 380 outpatient nurses and clinic workers across 10 SSM Health Dean Medical Group regional clinics in Dane County and South-Central Wisconsin to vote on representation by SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin between September 22 and 25, 2026 (Madison365 Coverage; WisPolitics Release). SSM Health publicly disputed union ULP claims, maintaining that its management campaign and communications fully adhere to the NLRA (WisBusiness Healthcare Report).
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September 1, 2026: In McDowell County Commission on Aging, Inc. (375 NLRB No. 33), the Board held that an employee decertification petition cannot be administratively dismissed based on a private ULP settlement between the employer and the union when the decertification petitioner was not a party to the settlement agreement (VitalLaw Summary; NLRB Edge Report).
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August 28, 2026: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison finalized a 10-year oversight agreement with Sanford Health and North Memorial Health requiring $600 million in capital investments into Robbinsdale and Maple Grove hospitals (Minnesota AG Announcement; KARE 11 News). The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) publicly demanded a binding Community Benefits Agreement to safeguard bedside nurse staffing and collective bargaining rights during the health system integration.
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August 27, 2026: Hundreds of registered nurses represented by National Nurses United (NNU) held nationwide protests and civil disobedience actions across eight cities—including Chicago, IL; Palo Alto, CA; Los Angeles, CA; and Washington, D.C.—demanding hospital systems cut ties with Palantir Technologies (NNU Press Release; KQED News Report). The "Palantir Out!" demonstrations protested the deployment of automated predictive algorithms and artificial intelligence platforms for patient bed placement, clinical care predictions, and nurse staffing schedules (NNU Campaign Advisory).
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August 26, 2026: NLRB General Counsel Crystal S. Carey issued Memorandum GC 26-04: Further Guidance Regarding General Counsel Priorities, providing a roadmap requesting the newly established Board majority overturn major Biden-era precedents (Duane Morris Review). Targeted precedents include Cemex (mandatory bargaining orders), Amazon.com Services (captive-audience meeting bans), Siren Retail / Starbucks (employer campaign predictions), Stericycle (handbook standards), and McLaren Macomb (severance confidentiality).
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August 20, 2026: Approximately 10,000 registered nurses across Corewell Health East in Southeast Michigan voted overwhelmingly to ratify their historic first collective bargaining agreement represented by Teamsters Local 2024 (Teamsters National Announcement).
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August 11, 2026: Approximately 380 healthcare workers and outpatient nurses across 10 regional clinics at SSM Health Dean Medical Group in Madison and South-Central Wisconsin filed an NLRB representation election petition to join SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin (WisBusiness Coverage).
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August 11, 2026: An NLRB representation election was conducted for a multidisciplinary professional unit at Lakeview Memorial Hospital Association in Stillwater, Minnesota. The single professional unit covers registered nurses, nurse practitioners, medical social workers, music therapists, and spiritual counselors (From the Desk of Chris Cimino: August Labor Updates).
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August 10, 2026: More than 120 registered nurses at Hutchinson Health in Hutchinson, Minnesota (HealthPartners system) announced their intent to join the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), filing a representation election petition with the NLRB (MNA Press Release).♦