Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, are set to hold a one-day strike March 14 at UChicago Medicine.
The union represents 2,800 nurses at UChicago Medicine, according to a union news release. UChicago Medicine, which includes the flagship 811-bed University of Chicago Medical Center, has roughly 13,000 employees total.
Union members voted to authorize a strike in February. Management and nurses began negotiating a new labor contract in October.
The University of Chicago Medical Center is committed to continuing negotiations to reach an agreement and avoid a strike, according to a March 5 statement shared with Becker's. The system said it hopes to have more bargaining dates in March but has contracted with replacement nurses to provide care in the event of a strike.
"Patient care and safety are UCMC's top priority. We are repeatedly recognized as among the safest hospitals in the nation, and recently received our 24th consecutive A grade in safety from the prestigious, independent Leapfrog Group. We've developed new processes to make sure we're continuing to work collaboratively with nurses to develop staffing plans to meet patients' needs, in real time," the University of Chicago Medical Center's statement reads.
Nurses are calling on the health system to make safety and staffing improvements. The union is calling for charge nurses to not have patient assignments as well as a clinically trained professional in the staffing office to weigh in on staffing decisions.