Prime recently fired four nurse leaders for federally-protected activity

Registered nurses with Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago are holding a rally Wednesday, May 27 at the hospital to protest their employer Prime Healthcare’s flagrantly illegal crackdown on their efforts to unionize, which include the recent firing of four nurse leaders, said National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC)/National Nurses United (NNU).

The nurses wish to join NNOC and last week filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board. They want union representation so that they can improve working conditions for themselves and, in turn, provide better and safer care for their patients. Just days after filing, the hospital fired four nurses among those leading the union campaign for passing out flyers outside employee entrances — long-recognized as protected union activity. 

Nurses demand the reinstatement of their colleagues, a fast and fair election, and to freely exercise their labor organizing rights.

Who: RNs at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital and supporting Chicago union RNs
What: Rally to protest employer’s illegal suppression of their union organizing campaign
Where: Corner of West Division and North Oakley Streets, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, Chicago
When: Wednesday, May 27, 8 a.m. Central Time

“This is Chicago and we are a union town. Nurses and our community are here to tell Prime that they cannot get away with this,” said Quishe’ Branch, a Saint Mary of Nazareth emergency department RN. “Nurses at Saint Mary, just like the rest of this city, are hungry for union representation so that we can better our workplaces and ultimately take better care of our patients. Prime needs to show us respect, reinstate our colleagues, and let us have a fair election. We will not stop until we prevail.”

The nurses at Saint Mary are part of a major wave of RN union organizing by NNOC in Chicago, with the recent victory by 2,000 Rush University Medical Center registered nurses of their union election on May 18. Chicago RNs are eager to join the largest and fastest-growing union of registered nurses in the country.

More than 400 RNs work at Saint Mary of Nazareth. NNOC also represents about 2,500 nurses and health care workers working at Prime Healthcare facilities in California and Nevada.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.