Nurses at Endeavor Health’s north suburban hospitals filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday to hold a union election – a move that could lead to the unionization of more than 2,400 nurses.
If the election is successful, nurses at Endeavor’s hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park, Skokie and Glenview would be represented by Teamsters Local 743.
Endeavor nurses are hoping to unionize because of unsafe staffing levels, heavy workloads and pay that hasn’t kept up with inflation and the cost of living, David Bernt, organizing director of Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents workers across Illinois and Northwest Indiana, previously told the Tribune.
Endeavor said in a statement Thursday that it “respects the federally-protected rights of our nurses to make an informed choice about union representation.”
“We also recognize the challenges in providing safe, seamless patient care when a union acts as the intermediary between our nurses and the hospital leadership,” Endeavor said. “… The exceptional care that we deliver to our communities has been the result of our ability to work together to navigate the complex challenges of our industry, and we continue to believe that direct conversations between our nurses and leadership are the best way to do so.”
Endeavor Nurse Stacey Oswald said nurses want to unionize for their own good as well as that of the community.
Oswald said she’s seen patient care decline in the three years since she started working at Endeavor. Oswald is an intensive care unit nurse who floats between the four hospitals depending on where she’s needed on any given day, she said.
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ICU nurses should typically have one or two patients at a time, she said. But she said there have been “numerous days” when multiple ICU nurses had three patients each, and Endeavor was scrambling to get nurses to pick up more hours.
“We had these unsafe ratios and it directly affects the patients and us as nurses,” Oswald said.
Nurses were also dismayed by pay cuts last year, Oswald said.
Endeavor has previously said it “increased pay opportunity for our nursing team members twice in 2026.”
Earlier this year, Teamsters Local 743 filed charges against Endeavor with the National Labor Relations Board, after the union said two nurses were fired from Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital because of their union activities.
Endeavor did not comment directly on the alleged firings.
The Endeavor nurses needed at least 30% of potential bargaining unit members to sign union authorization cards to file the election petition with the National Labor Relations Board.
The petition filed Thursday is the second one from nurses at Endeavor hospitals in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, nurses at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville filed a petition to hold a union election to be represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United.
If that election is successful, more than 1,000 nurses at that hospital would be unionized.
The move toward unionization comes at a potential turning point for Endeavor as a system. About a week ago, Endeavor and Rush University System for Health announced plans to merge.
If that merger gains all the necessary regulatory approvals, the systems could come together in early 2027. Together, the merged system would include 12 hospitals, more than 46,000 employees and more than 400 sites of care, making it one of the largest hospital sysems in the state.
The system’s leaders say the merger would improve access to quality care across the state.
Oswald, however, said nurses are unclear on what the merger would mean for them.
“We would like to be a part of the conversation, to know how is this going to affect us,” Oswald said.