Cook County nurses who work at Stroger Hospital and two other county-owned facilities voted Monday on whether to authorize a strike if their union is unable to reach an agreement with the county on a new contract.
Although voting will continue Tuesday for nurses at Provident Hospital and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, a union official predicted the nurses would authorize a strike.
Tiffany Taylor, who heads the negotiating committee for the local unit of the Illinois Nurses Association, said she expects the county’s 1,800 nurses to approve a strike, based on comments she heard Monday and the overwhelming support for the strike vote.
Even with authorization, the nurses would not walk out before the next negotiating session with the county, which is set for Feb. 10, Taylor said. Wage issues are keeping the sides far apart, she said.
Also voting Monday were nurses from Oak Forest Hospital and Cermak Health Services.
