(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Nearly 2,000 nurses at Chicago’s UI Health hospital have agreed on a tentative contract, which will allow them to end a four-day strike and return to work.
After about six months of contract negotiations, 1,700 unionized nurses walked off the job on Nov. 13 over what they described as unfair labor practices.
On Sunday, the Illinois Nurses Association (INA), which represents the UI Health nurses, said its bargaining team was “thrilled with the deal that has been struck and believe that it will lead to a better staffed and safer hospital.”
INA officials said the new contract features better hospital safety protocols, increases to wages, and input from bedside nurses on staffing decisions. The contract also includes an agreement between the nurses and UI Health to call on the hospital’s board to increase parental leave for all of its workers.
“Our members have been deeply involved in these negotiations, from the drafting of language to watching our update calls week after week,” said nurse Liz Flores in a press release from the union. “They knew what this staff and its patient community deserves, and they were ready to fight for it.”
The union’s membership will vote on the tentative agreement on Tuesday.
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