A union of skilled hospital maintenance workers and Prime Healthcare have reached contract agreements, averting a strike that had been planned for Thursday.
More than 50 workers across Prime’s Illinois hospitals had planned to walk off the job Thursday had contracts not been reached. The workers, represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399, include those who maintain HVAC systems, plumbing and other systems.
The new contracts will restore seniority-based vacation accruals, bring wages “to market standards” and include retroactive pay for workers, according to the union.
A spokesperson for MedSpace Services, which is a subsidiary of Prime Healthcare Management Inc., called the new contract agreements a “positive outcome” in a statement and said they reinforce “our commitment to our valued employees and ensuring our hospitals continue to provide safe, reliable, and high-quality care for the patients and communities we are privileged to serve.”
The new contracts cover workers at Holy Family Medical Center in Des Plaines, Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, Saint Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, and Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago, according to Prime.
Last month, the union filed 10 unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Prime and MedSpace. The union had alleged bad faith bargaining.
Prime bought eight Illinois hospitals from Ascension last year, and according to the union, Prime didn’t honor the workers’ contracts with the hospitals’ previous owner. Workers also had to reapply for their jobs, and their seniority had restarted at that reapplication, according to the union.
A MedSpace spokesperson had previously said in a statement that MedSpace “respected the rights of its workers to engage in lawful, protected union activity, including the right to organize” and had been bargaining in good faith. MedSpace provides management and support services within the Prime system.
Prime has been facing a number of labor woes in recent months, including a one-day strike by nurses at Prime’s Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago last month and a lawsuit filed by nurses at Prime’s Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet against Prime and Ascension, over nurse staffing.
