Arbitrator Sides With Ascension St. Joe's In Nurses Contract Dispute

JOLIET, IL — As a contract dispute between Ascension St. Joseph Hospital and union nurses drags on, an arbitrator determined this week that hospital officials are fully complying with the collective bargaining agreement and are doing all they can to improve staffing among nurses, the hospital announced on Friday.

Talks between the two sides broke down late last week in the most recent negotiating session weeks after nearly 80 percent of union nurses rejected the hospital’s best and final contract offer. This week, after two days of hearing testimony, an arbitrator ruled in favor of the hospital after nurses filed a grievance over staffing issues.

The nurses' union said on Friday that it is disappointed in a decision that the union says releases the hospital from its obligation to fulfill its staffing grids.

Nurses claimed in January that the hospital illegally implemented parts of its best and final contract offer beginning on Christmas Eve. Nurses said that the hospital, citing staffing shortages, forced nurses to work outside of their normal service areas, which put them — and patients at risk. The union had previously filed a grievance in 2021 over staffing issues and has been working toward a new contract since May.

The arbitrator ruled after two days of testimony from nurses, managers, and leadership from the Illinois Nurses Association and reviewed grievances, staffing sheets, and Assignments Despite Objection forms, siding with the hospital’s approach to staffing.

“Ascension Saint Joseph- Joliet is fully committed to supporting our nurses and all associates, and improving staffing at our critical community hospital,” Polly Davenport, Market CEO, Ascension Illinois said in a statement issued by the hospital on Friday. “Now this fact has been validated by a third-party labor arbitrator.”

She added: “We appreciate the arbitrator’s acknowledgment of our ongoing efforts to ensure the health and safety of our associates and patients through our safe staffing protocols. Moving forward with implementing our RN contract proposal is an extension of this work. We will continue to work through all legal barriers INA presents that try to keep us from recognizing our nurses with competitive wages, and successfully recruiting and hiring staff to support our care teams.”

In their ruling, the arbitrator wrote that “the hospital has gone to great lengths to attract and retain qualified nurses and to sufficiently staff each unit. The hospital has offered signing and referral bonuses as part of its continuing effort to hire additional nurses.

“The hospital seeks volunteers to work additional shifts, uses agency nurses to work in short-staffed units, offers financial incentives for nurses to work extra shifts, and fills open shifts with CCRT or float nurses, as well as in-house registry nurses. Nothing in the record suggests that the Hospital has failed to use any reasonable and available method to fill out its unit staffing.”

Union nurses have accused hospital officials of not knowing how to properly run a hospital and claim that nurses are not being paid competitively. In a statement issued to Patch on Friday, the Illinois Nurses Association said that in issuing their decision, the arbitrator "undercuts the already too weak protections" in the Illinois Nurses Staffing Improvement Act.

"We believe this arbitrator's decision runs contrary to the language in the contract and the plain language of Illinois law," the union said in its statement. "The refusal by those in authority to hold corporations like Ascension responsible is endangering patients, and undermining nurses’ ability to do their jobs. Many are abandoning the profession as a result. "

The union said that Friday night at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet —the sole hospital for the third largest city in Illinois — only has two nurses scheduled in Labor and Delivery. Safe staffing standards call for a minimum of five. The union said that at least three Labor and Delivery nurses are needed to handle an emergency delivery.

It implores residents who have friends or loved ones who are going into delivery on Friday to consider another hospital that may be properly staffed.

"While Ascension Ministry Market CEO Polly Davenport brags to workers and the public about the company’s successful side-stepping of accountability once again, we know the truth," the union said. "The truth is that Illinois Ascension hospitals are not functioning safely under her leadership.

"Ascension has always been able to institute raises that would improve long-term retention at the facility. Rather than making those changes, the employer has continuously relied on making fewer nurses do more work."