A new Illinois law could finally bring resolution to a multi-year contract standoff between CGH Medical Center and its employees’ union.

Nearly five years after winning the right to unionize, CGH Medical Center employees are still without a collective bargaining agreement. But a new state law, Senate Bill 0453, could change that. The measure amends the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to strengthen collective bargaining rights for certain public employees, allowing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 to seek an independent arbitrator to issue a final decision if negotiations remain at a standstill.

Public affairs director for AFSCME Council 31, Anders Lindall, told Shaw Local that previously, those provisions were only available to unions with fewer than 35 members in a bargaining unit seeking to negotiate a first contract. Now, under the new state law, either side can invoke the arbitration process.

“It gives another tool to settle this agreement that workers have been pursuing for years now,” Lindall said. “We’re hopeful that with that option, CGH management would stop their delays and their refusal to move forward, and if they continue their unwillingness to reach a fair agreement at the table, that we would have the option to move to arbitration.”

Lindall said the arbitration process would require 90 days of “good faith bargaining” – a requirement he said has been “more than satisfied” – followed by negotiation attempts with the assistance of a mediator.

“The mediator is a neutral third party that can assist labor and management in trying to see eye to eye and find an agreement,” Lindall explained. “The arbitrator considers the formal proposals that each side submits to them, and then chooses, and then that arbitrator’s order becomes the basis of the agreement.”

According to Lindall, AFSCME has attempted to obtain a mediator through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. However, he noted uncertainty over the agency’s availability, given the Trump administration’s efforts to remove it from the federal budget. Despite that hurdle, he said, other mediation services could still be hired.

Shaw Local requested an interview with CGH administration, but a member of the hospital’s media relations team said they declined to comment.

The history

In late 2019, employees at CGH Medical Center in Sterling, led by Council 31 of the AFSCME, began efforts to unionize. The union filed petitions after months of organizing, claiming majority support among staff.

CGH objected, alleging fraud and coercion in collecting union cards, and argued that certain employees, including a specialty nurse group and an electronic medical records trainer, should be excluded from the bargaining unit.

However, in 2021, a state labor judge dismissed most of CGH’s objections for lack of evidence, agreeing only that the EMR trainer should be excluded from the union. Following that decision, AFSCME urged CGH to accept the ruling and certify the union.

Almost 1,000 employees, including nurses, CNAs, phlebotomists and other health workers, supported the unionization to secure better pay, fair treatment and a stronger voice in patient care. At that time, CGH leadership said it still was considering the next steps, prioritizing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Union supporters emphasized that forming a union would strengthen the hospital and improve service to the community.

However, after the union was officially certified by the Illinois Labor Relations Board in 2021, tensions between the hospital and the union continued.

Over the past few years, the union and CGH have filed multiple complaints against each other, including an issue involving a December 2019 letter from CGH President and CEO Paul Steinke.

Administrative Law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal ruled in March 2022 that the letter, published by Shaw Local in print and online, violated state labor laws. The letter provided detailed instructions on how employees could revoke their union support and included disparaging remarks about the union, claiming it would waste dues and harm relationships with management.

Hamburg-Gal found that the letter was coercive, discouraging employees from maintaining union membership and encouraging them to report revocation to human resources. The letter came out just before Gov. JB Pritzker strengthened state labor laws.

Although CGH argued the union’s complaint was filed too late, the judge proceeded with the case, siding with the union.

“CGH employees formed their union to have a voice in the decisions that affect them because they want to improve their lives at work, and they want to improve the care that they provide to their patients and to the community,” Lindall said. “That was our goal in getting to the bargaining table, but that anti-union campaign just continued.”

CGH medical technologist Shelly Houzenga has been a member of the union negotiation team for more than three years. Earlier this year, she urged the Sterling City Council to pass a resolution showing its support for CGH management to quickly reach an agreement with the union. She said CGH has spent $1.7 million in attorneys’ fees related to its efforts to fight the establishment of the union and “silence voices.”

“We are hopeful that the prospective tool of arbitration would cause CGH management to change their ways and to take a different direction and pursue real progress collaboratively at the table,” Lindall said. “But if they don’t do that, if they continue down the same path that they’ve been on, then without question, we’d have no hesitation about moving this process to arbitration in order to resolve the contract at long last.”