More than 1,700 University of Illinois nurses to go on 7-day strike later this month

More than 1,700 nurses at the University of Illinois Health group are set to strike for a week starting Aug. 19, according to leaders with the Illinois Nurses Association.

It would also bring about 40 licensed practical nurses to the picket line for five days, starting the day after the current contract expires Aug. 18.

Among the group’s demands are higher wages to meet rising costs of living, more than the current six weeks of paid parental leave and lower staff-to-patient ratios. They also want to keep specialists working in their areas of expertise rather than across hospital departments, and to secure language to protect their contract in case any clinics or hospitals are sold.

“People’s care will improve because we won’t have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off to get needs met,” Paul Pater, an emergency staff nurse and co-chief Steward for the Illinois Nurses Association, told the Sun-Times Friday. “We can actually spend time with patients.”

The group also wants a better security plan. Pater said while the university has the security staff to mitigate violence, they are often “reactive not proactive,” only able to be called in response to an incident.

It's personal for Pater. He had to get bilateral hip surgery in 2021 after being attacked by a patient.

“The emergency department is always a hotbed for violence,” Pater said. “Our psychiatric floor has experienced several incidents where people’s lives have changed forever because of a violent patient or visitor.”

The health group said they were “disappointed” in the announcement.

“We have comprehensive plans in place, including a process to secure nursing agency staff, to ensure ongoing operations and safe patient care at the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics,” the health group wrote in a statement.

More negotiation sessions between the two groups are set to take place in the days leading up to the strike.

Pater has now been a part of three contract negotiations with the university health group. The last one led to a seven-day strike in 2020 that landed them a contract less than a week later.

This time, negotiations have yielded multiple Unfair Labor Practice complaints and yet another strike.

“This is the first time where I've experienced a negotiator from management who is disinterested in reaching a mutual agreement," he said.

He said he does expect to see “significant” movement in the wake of the strike, citing recent success for the Illinois Nurses Association at Howard Brown Health and other groups.

“We’re not afraid to hit the line and we have some recent success to back it up,” Pater said. “Ultimately this is about patients, and you can’t care for patients if you can’t work with your staff.”