Business & Tech
Nurses At U Of I Hospital Reach Tentative Agreement After Strike
The tentative agreement ends several months of contract negotiations, but still must be ratified by a majority of the nurses.
CHICAGO (CBS) — More than 1,400 nurses for University of Illinois Health have reached a tentative four-year contract agreement with the hospital and its clinics, days after most of them staged a weeklong strike. The tentative agreement ends several months of contract negotiations, but still must be ratified by a majority of the nurses represented by the Illinois Nurses Association. The vote will be held over three days next week.
The union said the deal with UI Health includes wage increases, a commitment to hire at least 160 more full-time nurses, hazard pay for working during a pandemic, a guaranteed rolling 90-day supply of personal protective equipment, universal N95 masking, a new negative pressure wing for the hospital, upgrades to the hospital’s airflow system, new windows that allow any room to be used as a negative pressure room with portable HEPA filters.
