Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, have approved a new labor contract with UChicago Medicine after the parties reached a tentative deal earlier this month to avert a strike.
The new four-year agreement covers 2,800 nurses at UChicago Medicine, according to NNOC/NNU.
Contract highlights noted in a March 15 union news release include:
- A commitment to not assign charge nurses a patient load in nearly a dozen new units
- Limits on floating nurses out of units where a charge nurse is responsible for a patient assignment
- Dedicated meal- and relief-break nurse in the adult emergency department
- A commitment to provide training and pay increases for sexual assault nurse examiners
- A commitment to provide training and pay increases for the labor and delivery scrub nurse team
- New process for addressing staffing concerns and an option to resolve via mediation
- Significant across-the-board wage increases, from 20% up to 40% over four years
- No changes to retirement benefits for four years, and healthcare premiums remain at current percentage
"This contract includes numerous provisions that we believe will translate into better recruitment and retention of experienced nurses who are critical in providing the highest quality of care to our patients," Pam Valentine, RN, said in the release. "In addition, we have new processes in place to address the chronic understaffing that has led to many nurses leaving UChicago."
Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, dean and executive vice president for medical affairs, and Tom Jackiewicz, president of the University of Chicago Health System, said in an all-staff message shared with Becker's: "As we move forward, let us continue to work together with mutual respect, transparency, and a shared commitment to excellence and service. By fostering a culture of collaboration and communication, we can ensure our organization remains a place where we all can thrive and succeed, where patients and the community can find the very best care, and where we train the best and the brightest and push the boundaries of science and medicine."
Union members voted to authorize a strike in February. Management and nurses began negotiating a new labor contract in October.