Nurses at several Chicago area hospitals owned by Prime Healthcare took action against their employer Thursday – with a one-day strike at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital and a protest at Olympia Fields Hospital.
More than 400 nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood walked off the job Thursday, as they try to reach their first contract with Prime. Prime is a California-based, for-profit company that bought the hospital, as well as seven others in Illinois, last year.
The nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth, represented by an affiliate of National Nurses United, say they’re fighting for safe staffing, among other issues.
St. Mary of Nazareth nurse Daisey Moreno said the union has been unable to get Prime to come to the bargaining table. She said the hospital is short on supplies and needs better staffing.
“We’re not able to provide the basic essentials to provide care for (patients),” said Moreno, who wore a red shirt and held a sign that said “RNs Against Crime Health” Thursday. She said more nurses are also needed. “Sometimes patients are critical and the more critical they are the more close attention they need from nurses.”
A hospital spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the nurses went on strike “before the parties have even had an opportunity to begin negotiations” and that it’s inaccurate that the hospital has refused to bargain. The strike was not expected to disrupt patient care, according to the statement.“At Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, we are committed to bargaining in good faith with the union representing some of our nurses, towards the goal of reaching an agreement that supports our employees while ensuring our ability to provide safe, high-quality care,” the statement said.
The one-day strike at St. Mary of Nazareth was one of four taking place at Prime hospitals on Thursday, with the other strikes in California and Nevada. The nurses at all four hospitals are represented by an affiliate of National Nurses United.
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Meanwhile, about 30 miles south of St. Mary of Nazareth, nurses at Olympia Field Hospital protested Thursday afternoon what the union describes as retaliation against nurses for participating in union activity. Prime recently suspended six nurses at Olympia Fields and one nurse at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, according to the union.
Nurses at Olympia Fields and Saint Francis are hoping to unionize and be represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United. The nurses at both hospitals filed petitions Aug. 24 with the National Labor Relations Board to hold union elections, and elections at both hospitals are scheduled for later this month.
Nurses at Olympia Fields said Thursday they too plan to go on a one-day strike Sept. 15.
“Given the conditions that led nurses to organize our union at Olympia Fields, like short staffing, lack of supplies, nurses’ concerns not being acknowledged, it is particularly egregious of Prime to illegally discipline nurses in retaliation for speaking up for our patients and engaging in legally protected activities,” said Jen Peterson, a nurse at Olympia Fields, in a news release.
The statement said that while the hospital “cannot comment on confidential personnel matters, any employment action is based on longstanding hospital policies and standards and not on union activity or protected rights. The hospitals do not retaliate against employees for exercising their protected rights.”
The alleged nurse suspensions come just months after the union contended that Prime fired six nurses for participating in union activity at St. Mary of Nazareth. The nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth also went on a one-day strike in June to protest those firings.
Karlie Thorn, one of the nurses who was fired from St. Mary of Nazareth earlier this year, joined her former colleagues on the picket line at the hospital Thursday. She said she was fired after handing out leaflets, off hospital property, before her shift. She said she was told she was being fired for trespassing.
She said the union is still trying to get the nurses their jobs back with backpay, though she’s since found work at a different hospital.
“I hope the nurses here get a fair contract,” Thorn said. “At the end of the day, the nurses can’t take care of their patients properly if they aren’t staffed properly.”
Prime also announced this week that it plans to suspend obstetric care at three of its Illinois hospitals due to low numbers of patients delivering at those facilities and centralize the services at St. Mary of Nazareth and Olympia Fields.