Edward Hospital nurses vote to unionize amid Rush merger plans

Registered nurses at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill. voted to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee, a National Nurses United affiliate, with 65% support. The polls closed Nov. 5 and votes were counted Nov. 6, creating a new bargaining unit of more than 1,200 nurses; the union says it now represents over 10,000 nurses in the Chicago area. Nurses said they want to bargain a first contract addressing safe staffing, while Endeavor Health said it respects the election outcome pending finalization. The vote comes as Endeavor Health pursues a proposed merger with Rush University System for Health, which would create a 12-hospital system with more than 46,000 employees; Rush nurses voted to unionize in May, and nurses at four other Endeavor hospitals separately filed for a union election with Teamsters Local 743 on Oct. 22.