Dozens of unionized nurses at University Medical Center gathered Monday (June 16) to protest an alleged attempt by the hospital to terminate a prominent nurse and union organizer.
Mike Robertshaw has been a leading voice in negotiations with LCMC Health — the private nonprofit that manages UMC — since he joined the hospital as a registered nurse in January 2024. The union for the hospital’s nurses claims LCMC Health moved to terminate Robertshaw without issuing a warning first and that the group is unfairly targeting union members with disciplinary action.
The protest took place outside of LCMC’s corporate offices in downtown New Orleans. LCMC did not respond to a request for comment on the union’s claims.
Unionized nurses at UMC have been engaged in negotiations regarding wage transparency, merit-based raises, workplace violence protections and a lower nurse-to-patient ratio since March 2024. At the rally, participants chanted “fire Mike, then we strike” and held signs stating “union busting is disgusting.”
Union officials say Robertshaw is currently suspended. He presented his case to LCMC administrators at a meeting on Monday afternoon, but a final decision on his termination has yet to be reached.
Robertshaw called the move by LCMC “not totally unexpected” in an interview with Verite News.
“Given that I have been one of the most out front and vocal leaders from the beginning, it is no surprise that they have targeted me,” he said. “So while I take full responsibility for my actions, my actions do not warrant termination.”
Robertshaw was informed that the hospital was moving to terminate him from his role in the burn intensive care unit two weeks ago after he left non-scheduled medication for a patient to take after they woke up from a nap. The union maintains this is common practice among nurses and would normally lead to a low-level warning, if anything.
The hospital recently agreed to a tentative agreement during collective bargaining that would mandate a progressive discipline policy, requiring hospital administrators to give nurses verbal and written warnings before escalating to termination.
Robertshaw said his fellow nurses see his possible termination as representative of a wider threat to union negotiations.
“I would say my overwhelming feeling over this last week is of solidarity,” he said. “I think people really fully understand that if the hospital is allowed to get away with this, they will have license to go after all of our nurse leaders in retaliation.”
Hailey Dupré, a nurse who sits on the union’s bargaining team, said while the hospital did not violate a contract because there isn’t one, the move to terminate Robertshaw without a warning first is unaligned with the progressive discipline agreement that had already been discussed.
“It’s becoming insulting that the hospital won’t settle this contract with us,” she said. “The thing that they had agreed to, even though it’s not legally bound, they decided not to use just a few months later.”
Nurse Terry Mogilles, an organizing member of the union, said in the days leading up to Monday’s protest, nurses across the hospital showed support by wearing union pins to work and signing petitions to be delivered to LCMC administrators. She added that the union has also received support from the hospital’s ancillary staff.
“We spend a lot of time on those one-on-one conversations, even with non-union nurses and non-nurses…making it clear that what we’re asking for is for the improvement of the whole hospital,” she said.
The nurses have occasionally held limited one to two-day strikes in recent months as the union and LCMC have continued negotiations. Mogilles said she expects the union to move toward another strike in the next few weeks.
“We’re ready for the fight,” she said. “We know if they did it to Mike, they will do it to any of us.”