The workers, represented by the Illinois Nurses Association, reached the agreement Thursday. Under the preliminary agreement, all nurses would see a 2.5 percent pay increase, Pat Meade, one of the nurses on the negotiating committee, said, according to the Herald-News.
Additionally, the agreement includes “a clearing up of pay disparity based on experience” as well as a promise from the hospital to maintain emergency room staffing for six months as it tries “to build a stronger management and hire new nurses for the unit,” among other provisions, the report states.
The agreement comes less than a month after nurses voted to allow the negotiating committee to call a strike if they feel the need to do so. Nurses rejected a previous preliminary agreement last month and are expected to vote on the most recent agreement Tuesday through Wednesday, according to the report.
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