Joliet nurses fight hospital downsizing. October 1, 2026 Nurses in Joliet, Illinois fight job cuts. Fight Back! News Joliet, IL - Dozens of nurses and their supporters rallied in the pouring rain September 30 to call attention to Prime Healthcare's closing of the Obstetrics and Special Care Nursery departments at Saint Joseph Hospital in Joliet, Illinois. Prime Healthcare is a nationwide "for-profit" corporation that is known for eliminating services that are not making enough money. These cuts affect working-class poor people the most. Since acquiring Saint Joseph in March 2025, Prime has closed the inpatient pediatric unit, closed a 30-bed acute care for the elderly unit for a year, closed the post-surgical unit and is seeking to permanently close pediatric inpatient services. According to 35-year Saint Joseph Hospital Registered Nurse Kim Craig, the matter is made worse, "because as doctors retired, they never replaced them." Saint Joseph Hospital is licensed to 489 beds, but according to the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) they operate at 195 to 225 beds per day because of Prime Healthcare cuts. But a core of registered nurses, members of the INA, are not taking it. On Wednesday, September 30, they rallied with community members calling for Prime Healthcare to not leave the 153,000 residents of the fourth-largest city in Illinois without critically needed healthcare. "This is the last day for our unit to be open, we are officially closed as of tomorrow morning," said Kim Craig, who works in the Special Care Nursery, "It's horrible; half of our staff has not been placed. But the biggest part is, what are we going to do with all our moms and babies now? There is nobody in the Joliet area." Prime Healthcare is making major cuts to the only hospital in Joliet. Warehouses moved into Joliet, staffed by non-union subcontractors for Walmart, Amazon and other corporate giants. 4000 union employees at U.S. Steel and the 7000 union Caterpillar workers have lost their jobs, as both of those plants closed. Joliet Township Supervisor Cesar Guerrero talked about the union spirit in Joliet which lives on inside this core of INA leaders, who are fighting to preserve decent jobs, but also fighting for access to healthcare for Joliet. The rally also heard from former INA staffer Michelle Couturier who was involved in organizing the INA strike against Saint Joseph Hospital in the early 1990s. This strike led to INA's first contract with Saint Joseph Hospital. Couturier talked about the militant tactics and innovative strategies that the mostly women nurses used to win the contract. The day before the rally, INA showed up at the hospital to bargain the effects of the most recent cuts. Even though Prime is legally required to bargain, they instead called the police on the union. Fortunately, the police that showed up did not make arrests and told Prime to work it out with the union. "This community and our patients deserve a hospital within Joliet to serve Joliet. The mothers and babies of Joliet deserve to be able to deliver in a place that is safe, close to home and easily accessible," concluded Christina Vanoskey, a Labor and Delivery Unit registered nurse.

Nurses at Central Maine Medical Center vote to unionize with 91% approval. Nurses at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, voted 204-21 in favor of joining the Maine State Nurses Association on September 24, according to WGME. The 91% approval margin came after hospital management fired 15 nurses and suspended five others in the weeks leading up to the election. Healthcare workers at Central Maine Medical Center overwhelmingly approved union representation on September 24, with 204 voting yes and 21 voting no, despite the hospital's parent company Prime Healthcare firing 15 nurses and suspending five during the organizing campaign. Just under 300 nurses were eligible to vote in the election. The newly unionized workers will join the Maine State Nurses Association, which already represents 4,000 nurses across Maine. The union announced plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the terminated and suspended nurses. Federal lawmaker calls firings "illegal union busting" Congresswoman Chellie Pingree criticized Central Maine Medical Center's actions on September 23, labeling the firings as "illegal union busting." Prime Healthcare, the hospital's parent company, maintained that all disciplinary actions resulted from code of conduct violations rather than anti-union retaliation. Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline issued a statement on September 24 expressing support for the organizing effort. "The entire Lewiston community is proud to stand behind the nurses at CMMC and their right to unionize," Sheline said in the statement. Terminated and suspended nurses react to vote. Erin Bennett, one of the terminated nurses, responded to the election results at the vote count. "It felt like a really long fight but this win is huge, especially with everything that has been thrown at us," Bennett told WGME reporters on September 24. Aaron McDaniel, a suspended nurse, described the organizing campaign's outcome in similar terms. "We are elated. We are all celebrating that we came through with a 91% victory. We couldn't expect anything better," McDaniel said. The timing of the disciplinary actions - 15 firings and five suspensions during an active organizing campaign - drew scrutiny from labor advocates and elected officials. Prime Healthcare did not respond to requests for comment on the election results or the pending unfair labor practice charges. What happens next. The Maine State Nurses Association will now enter contract negotiations with Central Maine Medical Center management. The union's first priority will be filing unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB over the firings and suspensions that occurred during the organizing drive. If the Board finds merit in the charges, it could order Prime Healthcare to reinstate the terminated nurses with back pay and post remedial notices throughout the facility. The 91% approval margin gives union negotiators a strong mandate heading into first-contract talks. Healthcare worker organizing has accelerated across the United States since 2024, with successful campaigns at hospital systems from California to Vermont. The Central Maine Medical Center victory adds momentum to that trend in a region where healthcare employers have historically resisted unionization efforts. Union representatives told WGME the fired and suspended nurses will remain active in the organizing effort regardless of their employment status. Central Maine Medical Center management has not publicly stated whether it will appeal the election results or negotiate in good faith with the newly certified bargaining unit. The Union Edge Staff Also in the paper

St. Francis union election on hold for now. The National Labor Relations Board agreed Monday to cancel a scheduled union election at St. Francis Hospital this week after additional complaints were filed by the national nurses' union alleging the hospital had violated the National Labor Relations Act, which they said could interfere with a free and fair election. In a statement on Monday, the National Nurses Organizing Committee, part of National Nurses United, the union working to unionize nurses at St Francis, wrote that the NLRB's Chicago office blocked the Sept. 17 union election "in light of credible allegations that a free and fair election is not possible at this time due to Prime Healthcare's substantial and flagrant violations of the National Labor Relations Act." Prime Healthcare and its nonprofit wing, Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns St. Francis, have been accused by the union and nurses at the hospital of unfair labor practices, including interrogation, threats, surveillance and suspending and then firing a nurse who spoke about the unionization efforts at the hospital. The hospital, in a statement Tuesday, disputed the allegations made by the union "in seeking to suspend the election," adding, "We remain committed to working constructively with our nurses and addressing concerns in the best interests of our patients and community." The nurses' union accused the hospital of surveilling nurses who have spoken with union staff and eliminating per diem RN positions while "interrogating them about their support for the union." The NNOC filed a complaint with the NRLB on Sept. 8, as did Emily Isakson, an intensive care unit nurse who spoke with the press and was subsequently suspended by the hospital. According to a statement from the nurses' union, Isakson has now been fired as well and the union sought to delay the election in a later filing with the NLRB. On Monday, the NLRB Chicago regional director, Angie Cowan Hamada, agreed to cancel the election, citing the allegations made by the union as "a sufficient offer of proof in support of these allegations which describes evidence that, if proven, could affect employee free choice in an election." "It is clear that Prime is scared and desperate, because when we do hold our election, we will win our union and be able to put our patients before profits," Isakson said, according to the statement. "Prime's bullying tactics will not work on me or other St. Francis nurses. We will never stop advocating for our patients." Multiple nurses who spoke with Evanston Now late last month described cut hours and surveillance by hospital administration after nurses filed a petition with the NLRB, requesting a union election for 275 full-time and part-time nurses at the hospital, which was scheduled to take place Thursday. Prime Healthcare spokesperson Mike Deering wrote in a statement that the hospital respects "the rights of every nurse to engage in legally protected activity and to make their own individual decision about union representation, including the right to support a union or to choose to remain in a direct relationship with the Hospital." "Many S. Francis nurses have openly expressed their desire to remain non-union, and their voices and rights deserve the same respect and protection as those of nurses who support union representation," Deering wrote. "Suspending the election denies nurses the opportunity to make that choice for themselves through a fair vote. We believe every nurse should be heard and that the outcome should ultimately be determined by the nurses." Prime Healthcare previously said that it felt the union was "placing its own interests of building up its membership, financial resources and political clout ahead of what is best for our nurses, our patients or the communities we are working to protect and rebuild," while accusing the union of "attempting to take advantage of" the hospital's transition period since its sale in 2025. It was not immediately when a union election would be held, though the union's original NLRB case seeking an election remains open as of Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the nurses, in a statement, said it was their position "that the nurses should be able to have a free and fair election and nurses are still actively organizing toward that."