Registered nurses at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying a new four-year contract on Monday, April 7, winning protections to improve patient safety and nurse retention, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). Ingalls RNs have been fighting for a strong contract since December 2024.

“With this new contract that benefits new and veteran nurses, we are building a new future at Ingalls,” said Katie Uzoras, RN in the telemetry unit. “This contract will benefit our community, our patients, and nurses’ safety.”

Highlights of the contract include:

• Safe staffing provisions, including increases in the number of specialized resource and rapid response nurses and additional staff on units to allow coverage while nurses take meals and breaks; and
• Technology protections, including against the expansion of artificial intelligence in the nursing field; and
• Recruitment and retention measures, including economic gains and additional benefit provisions, notably an average increase of 24 percent over the life of the agreement and expansions of paid time off; and
• No contract takeaways.

“We’re not done yet,” said Kelly Flavin, RN in the rehabilitation unit. “There’s more work to do and we are now better equipped to advocate for ourselves and our patients.”

The new contract covers the period from April 7, 2025 to April 7, 2029. NNOC represents more than 380 nurses at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 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.