Union disputes Ascension Joliet’s numbers on ‘new nurse’ hires

The union representing nurses at Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet hospital contends that management is giving a hyped-up count on staffing increases.

The number of nurses at the hospital is a key issue in a contract dispute that is nearing the one-year mark.

Contract negotiations continued Monday without results.

Ascension last week pointed to 78 new nurses the hospital has hired since implementing new wages in the midst of the contract battle.

But the Illinois Nurses Association, the union representing nurses at the hospital, said about one-fourth of the 78 nurses counted by Ascension include staff already working at Ascension Saint Joseph and some that have been there for decades.

The dispute over the nurse count reflects one more level of mistrust between nurses and management in negotiations that started in May 2023 on a contract that expired in July.

INA Staff Specialist Alec Ramsay-Smith said Ascension in publicizing the hiring of new nurses has included nurses who have worked for the hospital already but are counted as new because they switched to another unit.

“This includes nurses who were hired in 1989, 1999, and 2003,” Ramsay-Smith said.

Another quarter of the 78 new nurses have been hired but have not yet started, he said.

Ascension spokeswoman Olga Solares did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the INA characterization of the new hires and the latest negotiation session.

The two sides met Monday, although not in person.

Ramsay-Smith said Ascension no longer is willing to meet in person with the union, and bargaining talks are held through a mediator via computer. Ascension does not talk directly with union representatives, he said.

“They’re not meeting with us in person anymore,” Ramsay-Smith said. “They do not want to meet with us directly.”

Ascension in January implemented what it called its last, best and final offer, which included double-digit pay increases for entry- and mid-level nurses. Management has pointed to the new hires to indicate that it is trying to improve staffing.

The INA, meanwhile, has pointed to the loss of 300 staff nurses since its last contract talks in 2020 and called for improved wages and working conditions to attract more staff.

Ramsay-Smith said the union had previously rejected the double-digit pay increases proposed by Ascension because the proposal included little for nurses at the hospital for 20 years or longer.

“I think it shows this hospital prefers hiring brand-new nurses to retaining nurses that are here,” he said.