Health
Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital Hold 1-Day Strike to Protest Firings, ‘Retaliation’ for Union Organizing
Nurses and supporters rallied outside Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital on June 11, 2026, in a planned one-day strike to protest nurse firings and alleged union busting from hospital management. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital rallied outside the hospital Thursday in a planned one-day strike after they allege nurses were fired by management in retaliation for trying to form a union.
About 200 nurses and supporters gathered in front of Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital at 2233 W. Division St. with picket signs and demands that management reinstate six nurses who allege they were illegally fired last month amid union organizing efforts.
Nurses are scheduled to hold their union election Wednesday.
“When it comes to the point where safety and patient care is affected, I had to stand up,” said Amiee Bae, a nurse in the intensive psychiatric unit who was fired after working at the hospital for nearly eight years. “I had to raise my voice, and I knew the repercussions. I knew that I could get fired.”
Through forming a union, nurses said, they hope to have a voice at the hospital and see improved nurse-to-patient ratios, proper supplies and resources for patients, along with improved pay scales and benefits for nurses.
Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital saw “drastic” changes since Prime Healthcare took over the hospital more than a year ago, according to telemetry/stroke unit nurse Vanessa Moreno, who has worked at the hospital for nearly five years.
Nurses and supporters picket outside Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital on June 11, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
“When Prime took over, it was as if I had gone to work at a whole new company,” said Brenda Hernandez, an intensive care unit nurse who has worked at the hospital for about a decade.
Nurses at the hospital filed a petition to hold a union election on May 20 and be represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United. Nurses held another rally after their petition in late May to protest what the union described as “retaliatory union busting” by hospital management.
Nurses have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the nurse firings, according to a union statement.
The hospital is currently operated by the for-profit company Prime Healthcare, which acquired Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital from the nonprofit Ascension Illinois in March 2025. The hospital has changed ownership three times in the last decade, the Chicago Tribune previously reported.
The hospital denied retaliating against employees.
“Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital respects the right of nurses to engage in lawful, protected union activity,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We have not and will not retaliate against employees for exercising their lawful rights and have consistently applied longstanding hospital policies that protect safety and patient care.”
About 400 nurses work at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, according to a union spokesperson. Nurses are scheduled to hold their union election on June 17, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
A hospital spokesperson said the facility is remaining open during the one-day strike and has a “comprehensive plan in place” and cited the safety and care of patients, staff and visitors as the “top priority.”
The hospital did not share the reason why nurses were terminated.
“While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters, Saint Mary remains committed to ongoing, good-faith discussions with our nurses,” a hospital spokesperson said in a statement.
About 400 nurses work at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, according to a union spokesperson.
Karlie Thorn, an emergency room nurse who was fired after four years working at the hospital, said hospital management is trying to intimidate nurses through the terminations.
“If they’re showing they can fire some of the nurses, other nurses are scared that they’re going to lose their jobs,” Thorn said. “If they can get nurses to silence their voice — that’s what they’re trying to do — and clearly it’s not working.”
Jesus Hernandez, one of the six fired nurses, speaks during a rally outside Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital as part of a planned one-day strike on June 11, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Jesus Hernandez, a nurse in the behavioral health department who worked at the hospital for eight years, said he hopes the strike leads to him and his other terminated colleagues getting their jobs back. Hernandez said he wants Prime Healthcare to stop “threatening the nurses with retaliation, termination” for union organizing.
California-based Prime Healthcare operates 55 hospitals nationwide, including nine hospitals and more than 70 outpatient locations in Illinois, according to a spokesperson.
If the union receives a majority of the votes cast at the election, the National Labor Relations Board will certify the union and the employer must bargain in good faith over working conditions, according to NLRB regulations.
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), whose ward contains the hospital, said his children were born at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital. “Nurses are the foundation of care and without a strong foundation, everything else crumbles,” La Spata told nurses during a rally speech. “A strong union here improves care for all of us.”
Last month, nurses at Rush University Medical Center voted to unionize and are now represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United. The union represents about 7,000 nurses in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
