CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- After more than six months of contract negotiations, 98 percent of Cook County Health nurses voted to authorize a one-day strike on Thursday, June 24.
Workers will be striking on or after, Thursday, June 24, at Stroger and Provident hospitals, 69 W. Washington, Cook County Jail, and County highway maintenance facilities.
“I voted to strike because it is time for change,” said Eugenia Harris, Ward Clerk, Stroger Hospital. “We are fighting for a contract that provides safe and adequate staffing. A contract that provides equal pay for equal work. A contract that will make Cook County an employer of choice.”
SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer said members are willing to strike for as long as it takes to achieve a fair contract.
"It is time for Cook County to take these negotiations seriously. Our union isn’t striking because we want to, we will be striking because we have to,” Palmer said. "And the reality is, the County has the power to avoid a strike, by treating our members with dignity and respect."
Consuelo Vargas, an emergency room RN at Stroger Hospital agreed.
"We do not want to strike, we want to be at the bedside, but it is time for Cook County to create a plan to hire nurses to care for our community," he said.
One of the biggest points of contention is a staffing shortage, which existed prior to COVID-19, but has now been compounded.
“As we witness the influx of extremely sick patients, we are watching our nursing staff shrink,” Vargas went on to say. “In one six-week period, I saw 100 years of experience walk out of my department.”
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a response to the strike notice, explaining that staffing shortages are a mutually shared concern.
"Cook County fully understands our nurses are striking over staffing shortages. Let us be clear: this is a mutually shared concern. Before COVID, there was a nationwide shortage of nurses. The pandemic has only compounded this shortage – exponentially. Now, not only do we have a nursing shortage, but because of the devastation wreaked by the pandemic we have shortages in critical healthcare and first responder positions.
“Among our first set of challenges was to provide PPE, then teleworking. Next was pandemic pay – and now staffing shortages. We have been able to work through these challenges with our union partners while dealing with COVID, floods and so much more. This has been a tough nearly year and a half to navigate, but we did it with no layoffs and ensured that not one of our employees was left without health insurance during a pandemic.
"We also understand our employees are upset, because we asked to increase their employee contributions for healthcare. Let’s be clear, County is known for having one of the best health insurance plans and our employees pay $0.09 on a dollar. We have not asked employees for an increase in six years, even though our costs have increased. This is needed in this round of bargaining."
Cook County plans to continue to bargain in good faith to reach fair, reasonable, and equitable collective bargaining agreements with all the unions representing its employees.
Both the National Nurses Organizing Committee and SEIU Local 73 say the strike will continue until a ‘fair contract’ is achieved.
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