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Action to protest suspension of six Olympia Fields RNs and one St. Francis RN.

In gross violation of national labor laws, Prime Healthcare over the past week has retaliated against registered nurses for speaking up and fighting for their patients at two of its Chicago-area hospitals, suspending six nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill. and one nurse at Saint Francis Hospital in Chicago, Ill., announced National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the nation. Nurses are demanding the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues.

The nurses were legally joining in on union activities to have a stronger voice in patient care. Workers’ rights to participate in activities to form a union are federally protected under the National Labor Relations Act.

“Given the conditions that led nurses to organize our union at Olympia Fields, like short staffing, lack of supplies, nurses’ concerns not being acknowledged, it is particularly egregious of Prime to illegally discipline nurses in retaliation for speaking up for our patients and engaging in legally protected activities,” said Jen Peterson, RN in the outpatient surgery unit. “By disciplining these patient advocates, Prime is sending a message to the community that their concerns are not valid.”

Nurses, who seek to unionize with NNOC, will hold a protest at Olympia Fields on Sept. 3 against Prime’s union busting.