WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Workers at Rogers Behavioral Health in West Allis are accusing the company of retaliating against union supporters following a protest outside the West Allis facility Thursday, June 25. 

Kate Zolandz, a fired Rogers employee, said, “It’s sad. It’s very sad that this is what they are resorting to.”

Zolandz said she was fired after supporting the union effort and wearing a cape during her lunch break on the day of the union election vote. Workers say the cape was a symbol of their union push.

“I asked several times for an actual written policy that I had violated and they weren't able to provide it,” Zolandz said. “They walked me out of the building and a couple days later I got a phone call saying I had been terminated.”

Employees claim three Rogers healthcare workers were fired earlier this year for trying to unionize.

The protest follows months of organizing at the West Allis outpatient center, where workers voted 54 to 4 in April to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers, saying they want changes to improve conditions for staff and patients.

“Every person in that building, myself included, was getting overworked and if a Union could come in to help us, why would anyone be against that?” said Delaney O’Connor, a fired Rogers employee.

Current employees say staffing shortages have continued since then.

“They haven't been replaced so we’re just running on even less staff,” said T’anna Holst, a Rogers employee.

Zolandz said that impacts patient care.

“It directly translates to poor patient care because if you don’t have enough staff to meet the needs of all the people their needs aren’t getting met,” she said.

Holst said workers are calling for change from management.

“It’s time that Rogers listened to us, sit down and bargain a contract with us, stop doing illegal things to retaliate and just let us have a voice for the patients,” Holst said.

A Rogers Behavioral Health spokesperson sent a new statement saying:

"Rogers Behavioral Health is committed to our patients and our people. Operations at our West Allis outpatient facility continued today. We remain focused on what has always mattered most: delivering the integrated, highly effective mental health and addiction treatment that helps people reach their full potential for health and wellbeing — and has made Rogers a trusted provider across Wisconsin for more than a century. We take concerns about patient care and working conditions seriously and address them through direct communication and proper channels. Any claims to the contrary do not accurately reflect the reality of the care we provide or the workplace we have built.Regarding allegations about a specific individual: we do not comment on personnel matters and handle all such matters with confidentiality and respect. Rogers' professional conduct standards exist to protect our patients and our team. We hold staff accountable when those standards are not met, and we have at all times acted in compliance with applicable law and our organizational policies."