Some 2,200 nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center walked off the job Friday, citing staffing shortages and forced overtime. “The reason we are striking is for our patient safety and our staff safety,” said one nurse from the picket line.

The Chicago Federation of Musicians says the five-year deal includes a 13.2% increase in salary and protects retirement benefits. The union says musicians unanimously supported it Saturday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement that Chicago Symphony Orchestra management and striking musicians “have reached an agreement in principle to bring the music back to the symphony center.”

Both striking musicians and management of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have welcomed an offer by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help end a nearly two-month work stoppage over pensions and wages.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra may cancel more concerts after striking musicians rejected what it calls its last, best and final offer on a new contract.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra said in a Wednesday statement that it and the Chicago Federation of Musicians have “mutually agreed” to continue negotiations Friday. 

Instead of being in rehearsal Tuesday morning with their superstar conductor Riccardo Muti, most of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 106 musicians joined forces with him on the sidewalk outside the concert hall.

While saying their negotiations have been “respectful and cordial,” the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and their management dug in Monday in what could be a prolonged strike. 

Following a five-day strike that forced the cancellation of three performances at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the company’s orchestra ratified a new contract Sunday.

The musicians’ strike has led the venerable opera company to cancel some performances and issue an apology to patrons.

Workers began their strike nearly a month ago and will return to work at 24 hotels after reaching an agreement with two hotels Friday. But the strike continues at two hotels.

Workers will end their strike at nearly a dozen Chicago hotels after reaching an agreement with the Knickerbocker and Ritz-Carlton hotels on Wednesday. But the strike continues at 15 other hotels.

After two weeks, the union representing striking workers announced that a contract agreement had been reached at nine hotels. Workers will continue to strike at 17 others.

Chicago’s biggest ever hotel strike is now in its 11th day. What workers want – and where things stand with their demands.

A docent for Seadog Cruises is pushing to unionize, but he says Seadog’s parent company, Entertainment Cruises, is trying to quash the effort.

It’s been two months since the U.S. Supreme Court came out with its landmark Janus v. AFSCME decision. Now, on to the next front in the battle over the future of public employee unions.