Chicago nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital vote overwhelmingly to join NNOC/NNU

RNs joining National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, country's largest nurses union

Registered nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago voted overwhelmingly to join National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the nation's largest and fastest-growing nurses union. In an election held Wednesday, June 17, nurses voted 96% yes to forming a union.

"Today is a great day to be a union nurse in Chicago," said Anna Bilanicz, RN in the intensive care unit at the hospital. "We're so excited to join NNOC because we know we'll be able to win the kind of contract that will be a gamechanger for our patients and for us as nurses."

Nurses at the facility in Chicago's Ukrainian Village held a historic strike last week to protest the illegal firings of six co-workers who were unlawfully terminated for union organizing. Despite these retaliatory tactics from Prime Healthcare, the hospital's owner, nurses demonstrated their clear unity and solidarity that carried them to this massive win.

"Prime Healthcare thought they could scare us into silence," said Chris Williams, RN on the 14th floor. "But now that we're part of the country's largest nurses union, our voice is louder than ever, and we're still turning the volume up. We're ready for a contract that makes sure our patients get the care they deserve, not the shortcuts Prime has been taking."

With their election victory, nurses will continue to demand the reinstatement of their co-workers and, moving forward, good faith bargaining on a first union contract. Nurses at the hospital will now begin to select their nurse bargaining team members in order to begin negotiations on their first collective bargaining agreement with Prime Healthcare. Saint Mary's nurses will continue to provide a bold example to Prime nurses across the country, as many more now see the power that will come from forming their own unions.

NNOC/NNU now represents nearly 500 nurses in the bargaining unit at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital. Nurses from Saint Mary of Nazareth join many over 3,000 health care workers in the Prime system already represented by NNOC/NNU at hospitals nationwide, more than 1,800 of whom are already in active contract negotiations.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.