Ascension Saint Joseph Says They Are At A Impasse Over Contract Talks With St. Joe’s Nurses

Nurses at Ascension St. Joe’s hospital in Joliet voted NO before Christmas on Ascension’s best and final offer. The executive union board urged Ascension to return to the bargaining table to receive the nurses counter proposal.

Ascension released a statement to the media.

December 22, 2023 Statement for Media

Per Illinois Nurses Association’s (INA) request, our Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet bargaining team met with the union today to discuss the details of our best and final proposal for the successor contract for the registered nurses (RNs) they represent. Unfortunately, the union’s bargaining team came with no meaningful changes and no final offer for us to consider.

 

We are clearly at an impasse. As such, we are assessing the necessary steps to implement our final contract proposal—including an improved wage scale that is in alignment with market rates across the Joliet region. In the meantime, we stand ready to meet with INA to further discuss our final contract proposal.

 

Meeting the needs of our community and our patients is our highest priority. Those needs require us to recruit, hire and retain more nurses, which means we need to move beyond this impasse and implement a new contract and competitive wage structure.