Both hospitals are owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare. SLUH nurses voted by a 3-1 margin to unionize in early June, and roughly 600 registered nurses will now be represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Missouri.
About 250 nurses at Des Peres, a 143-bed community hospital, voted to join the same union by a 2-1 margin.
In collective bargaining talks, nurses are seeking increased pay, bonuses and better nursing-patient ratios to improve the quality of care. A principal negotiator for the nurses at SLUH said there is “no set timetable” for an agreement, according to the report.
The national average for unionization is 13 percent of the labor force, but 21 percent of St. Louis’ labor force is part of a union, making it one of the most unionized metropolitan areas in the country.
More Articles on Hospitals and Unions:
Nurses OK 10-Day Strike Notice at Northside Medical Center in Ohio
Strike Averted at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Nurses, Research Medical Center in Kansas Reach Contract Agreement
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