Nurses, University of Illinois Hospital reach agreement after strike

Union nurses and the University of Illinois Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract that includes smaller patient loads.

The agreement comes after a weeklong strike by 800 nurses that ended Saturday morning when they went back to work without a new contract. Nurses will vote on the agreement Monday.

The contract includes a promise to hire 160 more nurses to cut down on patient loads, promises of more protective gear, hazard pay for working during the coronavirus pandemic and other guarantees, the Illinois Nurses Association said in a statement.

A majority of the full membership of around 1,400 union nurses will have to approve the tentative agreement in a vote Monday. Several hundred nurses were barred from striking after a Cook County judge granted the hospital’s request to keep them on the job for the care of patients.

“We are gratified to achieve this hard-fought victory after months of negotiations,” Illinois Nurses Association President Doris Carroll said in a statement. “The nurses were unified and strong and it paid off in what we think is a fair contract.”

The nurses will receive annual wage increases starting at 1% and climbing to 2% by the fourth year of the contract. The union has said nurse staffing levels and protective gear and policies were priorities. In addition to an increase in mask supplies, the union said it won promises of a redesign of the hospital’s airflow system and other structural improvements to address the risk of the virus in the air.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to come to a tentative agreement, and we are grateful that our nurses chose to return to work on September 19, following a seven-day strike. This is in the best interest of our patients and our UI Health family,” hospital CEO Michael Zenn said in a written statement.

The two sides continued to talk after the nurses returned to work, negotiating through Wednesday.

Separately, the hospital reached agreements with four union bargaining units representing a range of employees from technicians to maintenance workers, the hospital and union confirmed.

About 3,700 employees represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 73 went on strike more than a week ago, calling for better pay and more coronavirus protection.

Details of the tentative agreements were not made public pending ratification votes expected next week. The agreements were reached Wednesday after several months and more than 50 bargaining sessions, according to a joint statement from Zenn, Chancellor Michael Amiridis and SEIU President Dian Palmer.

Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.