Joliet nurses union continues talks, takes strike vote

Union nurses at Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet hospital will wind up a strike authorization vote on Thursday as they prepare to return to contract talks next week.

The two sides negotiated on Monday and Tuesday without making headway on key issues, a union representative said.

“We moved further along yesterday but not on the issues that would ensure more nurses would come and stay in Joliet,” said Tristan Bock-Hughes, senior lead organizer with the Illinois Nurses Association (INA), the union representing the nurses.

Nurses are seeking higher wages and increased staffing at the hospital that they say is down nearly 300 nurses because of working conditions and pay that lags behind that of other area hospitals.

Bock-Hughes said Ascension has refused to negotiate on staffing issues beyond stating that it would keep in place incentive pay for nurses who take on extra shifts.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Tuesday.

“We’re hoping we can come to the talks that day with significant authorization on the strike vote,” said Sarah Hurd, a lead organizer with INA.

The three-day strike authorization vote began Tuesday.

Ascension did not respond to a request for comment on the contract talks.

Nurses at the hospital went on strike three years ago before reaching a contract agreement. That contract expired on July 19.

Staffing levels were an issue in contract talks in 2020 and are an issue again.

“Ascension is still holding out on three priorities that nurses set for themselves in this contract,” Bock-Hughes said.

Those priorities include a system to prevent short-staffing, “market-rate wages,” and improved sick pay, he said. Nurses now have to use four vacation days for sick leave before they can draw on sick pay, Bock-Hughes said.

According to the INA, there are 530 nurses at Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet compared to 800 five years ago. The union says Ascension has turned increasingly to agency nurses to fill in while not replacing staff nurses that leave.

Nurses also have been vocal about an Ascension proposal to stop providing pay raises once a nurse has been at the hospital for 21 years and instead provide them with bonuses. The hospital now caps raises at 29 years.