Illinois Nurses Association (INA) announced Aug. 6 that nurses employed by the Howard Brown Health system reached a tentative bargaining agreement with system officials the evening of Aug. 5.
“The contract meets the nurses’ core concerns, including patient-centered staffing ratios, a wage scale that encourages RN longevity and the start of Howard Brown Health’s first paid parental leave policy for hourly workers,” said the INA statement.
The agreement comes after about eight months of bargaining; nurses voted to authorize a strike on Aug. 1. A bargaining unit will review the deal and issue a final vote on the matter on Aug. 11.
INA noted that among the highlights of the tentative deal were annual across-the-board raises as well as annual date-of-hire increases, totaling approximately 10 percent over the three-year agreement; guarantees that work schedules will be provided two weeks in advance and cannot be changed without mutual agreement; four weeks of paid leave extended to all employees; and RN staffing minimums.