Nurse.com, January 9, 2012 Karen Kelly, RN, EdD, NEA-BC, was elected president of the Illinois Nurses Association at the group's 81st biennial convention October 22 in East Peoria. Kelly, a resident of downstate O'Fallon, Illinois, is an associate professor at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing. More than 400 nurses attended the convention, which the INA hosted jointly with the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing. Kelly earned her doctorate in education in instructional processes and adult learning, her master's degree in psychiatric nursing and BSN all from SIU-Edwardsville. ... INA

Associated Press, January 7, 2012 Chicago - The nation's largest nurses union has gained a bigger footprint in the Chicago area with a vote by nurses at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center to join National Nurses United.

 Friday's vote, conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, was 94 to 16, and termed a "landslide" by union leaders.

 National Nurses United will represent about 150 registered nurses at the South Side Chicago hospital. The group now represents nearly 4,200 registered nurses in the Chicago area. ... Chicago

Associated Press, December 22, 2011 Chicago - Nurses at University of Illinois Medical Center have voted to authorize a strike as recommended by union negotiators. 

Illinois Nurses Association spokesman Chris Martin says a vote ended late Thursday with an overwhelming rejection of the proposed contract.

 A vote to authorize a strike doesn't mean there'll be a strike for sure. Thursday's vote will guide negotiators when talks resume January 4. 

Association labor attorney Alice Johnson says contract talks began in June.

Associated Press, December 22, 2011 Nurses at University of Illinois Medical Center are voting on whether to authorize a strike as recommended by union negotiators.

A two-day contract vote ends Thursday evening. Results will guide negotiators when talks resume January 4.

Labor attorney Alice Johnson of the Illinois Nurses Association says contract talks began in early June.

Some 130 people at an Occupy Chicago protest were arrested Sunday for violating a park curfew. The city and activists are trying to find solutions, but dialogue has been shaky. Mark Guarino, Christian Science Monitor, October 25, 2011 Chicago - A movement branding itself as without leadership versus a city administration anxious to not repeat the mistakes of the past is making dialogue in Chicago between the two parties delicate, contributing to mounting tension that many say will need a solution upon winter’s arrival. Until recently, Occupy Chicago, the Great Lakes version of the public protest taking place in Wall Street ... Occupy

Huffington Post, October 24, 2011 As promised, a group of nurses joined Occupy Chicago protesters outside of City Hall Monday to speak out against Saturday night's arrests in Grant Park. Nurses who set up a first aid station near the park were among the 130 people arrested late Saturday into early Sunday, and some were held in Central District lockup for more than 20 hours. “We were among the last protesters released, for no good reason that we can tell, except for they clearly knew when the media cameras had left,” Jan Rodolfo, Midwest director for National Nurses United told the Chicago Tribune. “We were tearful and exhausted and shell shocked.” ... Occupy

Christin Nance Lazerus, Chicago Post-Tribune, September 2, 2011 Nurses demonstrated at congressional offices across the country on Wednesday - including Rep. Pete Visclosky’s Merrillville office - to call for a tax on Wall Street. The transaction tax would apply to every trade of stocks, bonds, credit default swaps and derivatives. The United States had such a tax from 1914 until 1966, and politicians have periodically touted reinstating such a tax. Nurses and activists waved their signs that read “Tax Wall Street” to approving honks from passing traffic on Broadway. ... Nurses

Chicago Sun-Times, July 17, 2011 Joliet - Nurses working in the Ambulatory Surgery Center at Provena Saint Joseph’s Medical Center voted earlier this month to organize as a union under the direction of the Illinois Nurses Association. INA has been representing nurses at Provena since 1993. The 11-to-7 vote means that INA will soon begin negotiations on a contract with the nurses and management of the Surgery Center. The Surgery Center has three operating rooms and two procedure rooms.

Bruce Japsen, Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2011 Nurses at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago rejected union representation by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) Council 31, the hospital and union confirmed this morning. The vote, which was cast Wednesday and Thursday, was 159-98 against representation.  The hospital said the nurses decided to “continue working directly with (hospital) management,” the hospital’s parent, Resurrection Health Care said in a statement this morning to the Tribune. The union cried foul ... Nurses

Kari Lydersen, Chicago News Cooperative, July 1, 2011 Nurses at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center on the Northwest Side have voted 159-98 against joining the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union. The election, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, was the first in the union’s eight-year campaign to organize Our Lady of the Resurrection and five other Chicago-area hospitals run by the Catholic institution. AFSCME officials said they hope to overturn the results by filing objections with the National Labor Relations Board citing hospital efforts to discourage employees from voting for unionization. ... Nurses

Chip Mitchell, WBEZ, June 29, 2011 Some nurses on Chicago’s Northwest Side have begun two days of voting in a closely watched union election. Since 2002, Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has been trying to organize thousands of employees at Resurrection Health Care, a nonprofit Roman Catholic hospital chain based in Chicago. But management has not recognized the union. To gain a foothold, AFSCME asked the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election among about 290 registered nurses at one of the hospitals, Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, 5645 West Addison Street. ... After

James Warren, New York Times, June 24, 2011 It’s easier to be elected president than to win a union representation election these days. I’m looking at a 2004 photo of a little-known state senator, Barack Obama, addressing a rally at a West Side Chicago church on behalf of an organizing campaign at Resurrection Health Care, a nonprofit, church-run group of hospitals. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is still at it and will finally get a representation election next Wednesday and Thursday among about 270 registered nurses at one of the group’s locations, Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center. ... Finally

Associated Press, April 15, 2011 Union nurses at University of Chicago Medical Center have voted to authorize a strike if their bargaining demands aren't met. Lead negotiator Jan Rodolfo of National Nurses United says the hospital's 1,300 registered nurses voted overwhelmingly for the strike authorization. Contract negotiations have been under way since August between the union and one of the city's premier hospitals, which is located on Chicago's South Side. Rodolfo says nurses want to send a strong message that they're serious about fighting for better staffing levels and an end to rotating shifts. Hospital officials have said University of Chicago's nurse staffing levels are consistently ranked high compared to other hospitals.

Samantha Winslow, Gapers Block, April 14, 2011 Reasheal Lehmann joined the line of people on East 59th Street in front of the University of Chicago Medical Center. An emergency room nurse at the hospital, Lehmann wore bright red scrubs emblazoned with her union's logo, National Nurses United; others wore raincoats and parkas, trying to stay warm on an unusually cold March evening. As the sun went down, the University buildings glowed with yellow light like a cathedral. More nurses ended their shifts and they also came outside. Staff nurses at the medical center, which is affiliated with one of the nation's most prestigious universities, are in union negotiations ... Nurses

Associated Press, April 9, 2011 Union nurses at University of Chicago Medical Center will vote next week on whether to authorize their bargaining team to call a strike if necessary. Lead negotiator Jan Rodolfo of National Nurses United says voting will be Tuesday and Wednesday in a tent set up on city parkland near the hospital. Contract negotiations have been under way since August between the union and the city's premier South Side hospital. Rodolfo says nurses want to send a strong message that they're serious about fighting for better staffing levels. Hospital officials have said University of Chicago's nurse staffing levels are consistently ranked high compared to other hospitals.