Nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center will vote next week on whether to authorize union leaders to call for a strike if bargaining efforts fail. Here, as in several other recent instances, nurse-staffing levels seem to be at the heart of the union's dissatisfaction with providers.
The nurses, represented by National Nurses United, could use the strike threat at the bargaining table. The union has one bargaining session before the Jan. 29 vote and another after the vote, according to Jan Rodolfo, the union's Midwest director.
“Nurses came to the table with a focus on a number of patient care and safety type concerns, particularly around staffing,” Rodolfo said. “The university put proposals on the table on their side that we believe would actually make staffing and these patient issues worse.”
UCMC said in a statement Thursday that it was surprised to learn that nurses are voting on whether to authorize a strike. It has not had a strike in the roughly 40 years it has been unionized, the statement said, noting that contracts are best settled through negotiations and “not through threats.”
“This strike vote is premature as we have not yet had the opportunity for any detailed negotiation regarding economic proposals,” the hospital said. “We have received virtually nothing back from the NNU about our initial proposals, except for a few clarifying questions.”
While the union proposed eliminating mandatory rotating shifts—in which nurses cycle through the day, night and swing shifts—UCMC negotiators initially proposed tripling them, Rodolfo said. UCMC has since backed off from the 300% increase in shifts, but isn't interested in eliminating the process, she said.
The union also has proposed nurse-to-patient staffing ratios based on acuity, a benefit NNU gained in its home state of California. Rodolfo said union negotiators also were shocked when the hospital proposed eliminating the charge nurse position, replacing it with a new role played by additional managers.
If UCMC negotiators continue to be dismissive and if the union's members authorize a strike, NNU is prepared to follow through with the threat in the immediate future, Rodolfo said. “If that were to continue after the strike vote, it would be evident in just a couple bargaining sessions,” she said.
NNU has been at odds with several health systems over the past few months. Its 18,000 members at Kaiser Permanente canceled a two-day strike planned for this week after the hospital came to an agreement over the weekend, but Kaiser nurses walked out in November to protest what they said was a lack of preparation to handle Ebola within the system.
Nurses at Newton (Mass.) -Wellesley (Mass.) Hospital have expressed concerns about patient safety, and nurses across California have expressed concerns over the proposed sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System in Los Altos Hills, Calif.
Disagreements in negotiations across the country stem mostly from business decisions regarding care delivery, Rodolfo said. The union feels that new care models aren't necessarily working and hospitals are making nurses' lives more difficult.
“They're trying to have fewer nurses at the bedside and more unlicensed personnel providing care,” Rodolfo said. “They're moving towards technology instead of hands-on nursing care. They are making budget-driven decisions like closing units, and services that aren't money-makers for the hospital, and investing in areas of the hospital that make more money.”
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