The Illinois Nurses Association filed a petition to compel arbitration and complaint for declaratory relief Oct. 20 against St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., alleging that union members never received promised COVID-19 bonus pay at the hospital, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The complaint, obtained by Becker’s, also names the hospital’s current and former owners — Prime Healthcare and Ascension, respectively — as defendants and seeks a federal court order directing them to submit to arbitration.
Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare — which completed its acquisition of eight St. Louis-based Ascension hospitals in Illinois, including the Joliet facility, in March — said in a statement shared with Becker’s that the system “is not involved in this matter in any way. This issue involves compensation incentives from Ascension during COVID in 2021. We support our nurses and have honored their tireless work during the pandemic and continue to be grateful.”
An Ascension spokesperson told Becker’s the health system “does not comment on ongoing litigation but is committed to vigorously defending the allegations in the complaint.”
In the complaint, the union says that in 2022, workers who “have delivered patient-facing care” throughout the pandemic were promised a premium COVID-19 payment equal to 15% of their total earnings for November 2021.
“The November incentive pay was a unilateral change made by Ascension and the hospital during a healthcare emergency intended to incentivize nurses to stay working at the hospital,” the complaint states.
Nonunion employees reportedly received the incentive pay, but INA-represented nurses did not — which the union claims violates the collective bargaining agreement covering nurses at St. Joseph from 2020 to 2023, “as it amounted to a unilateral change that decreased a benefit.”
The union filed a grievance in March 2022 over the alleged violation, which the hospital and Ascension declined to respond to, according to the complaint.
The INA submitted a request for arbitration to the employer in 2022. According to the complaint, the hospital and Ascension declined the request, arguing the incentive did not fall under the CBA.
The union asks the court to grant the petition to compel arbitration and order the defendants to participate.
