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Loretto Hospital workers go on strike Monday morning
Loretto Hospital frontline service, care and technical workers walked a picket line outside the West Side hospital on Monday morning
CHICAGO - About 200 Loretto Hospital workers went on strike Monday morning.
Workers walked off the job at 7 a.m. and, after holding a news conference, formed a picket line to demand raises, more staffing and better working conditions in a new contract with hospital management.
Striking workers at the West Side hospital include certified nursing assistants, med techs and housekeeping staff.
They wore purple shirts and chanted "Fight for staffing!" while waving signs that read a variety of messages, including, "Shame on you Loretto" and "Workers Deserve Respect."
"We are here to respond to a crisis of Loretto’s making," SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley said Monday morning outside the hospital. "Workers are often working seven days a week doing the work of multiple people."
Negotiations for a new contract have been ongoing since May.
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Both sides began the latest talks at noon Monday.
Loretto is facing a staffing crisis, with vacancy rates ranging from 25 to 35% in various positions and an annual staff turnover of 60%, the union said in a statement.
"The hospital is lagging behind other facilities on wages, despite having been allocated $10 million in funding from the state of Illinois specifically to address worker recruitment and retention," the statement said.
Loretto Hospital didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Last year, the hospital’s chief executive and president abruptly left. Employees learned of George Miller’s departure in a brief memo from the hospital’s general counsel.
The move followed several investigations from Block Club Chicago and the Better Government Association revealing alleged financial mismanagement at Loretto and potential misuse of COVID-19 vaccines when they were in high demand and short supply.
The hospital board launched a probe into allegations that executives had taken city-supplied vaccine and used it to inoculate people at the Trump Tower downtown and other locations, rather than use it for residents of the Austin community that Loretto serves. In some of the cases, the hospital gave shots to those who were not eligible.