Hundreds of nurses at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet will be hitting the picket line Thursday.
This comes after Ascension Healthcare faced a wave of strikes last year across the country. Nurses were on strike twice in Joliet.
All were protesting the employer’s alleged chronic understaffing, below market wages, and regular violations of federal labor law, they said.
While it’s disappointing, Ascension said they do plan on staying open.
Like they did with previous strikes, the company is contractually required to commit to four days of work for any nursing staff replaced. The union nurses will then be allowed to return to work next week.
The two-day strike begins Thursday, with 500 nurses from the hospital continuing their strike tomorrow.
More than 500 nurses at Ascension Saint Joseph in Joliet went on strike Tuesday alleging unfair labor practices.
This strike will last just two days and comes amid ongoing contract negotiations.
Ascension Saint Joseph says it’s prepared to stay open during the strike.