On June 4, nearly 80 people gathered in front of the Springfield Avenue side of AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center to support bargaining for safe staffing ratios and a fair contract. INA and SJNA are thankful for the following speakers and community supporters in attendance: State Rep John Connor, Will County Board Member Rachel Ventura, the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Firefighters, the Warehouse Workers for Justice, Emediate Cure, and the Will County Progressives. Also in attendance, special guests Pam Robbins and Nurse Judy Hopkins, part of the original founding of SJNA.

SJNA gives special thanks to Nurse Susan McCallum who shared moving testimony of her late cousin in-law, a CNA who was among the first exposed to COVID-19 at Symphony Nursing Home. In her passing she left behind daughters, cousins, and a granddaughter who just graduated from high school. It truly shows the dangers and hazards of the important, caring work that nurses do.

Nurses deserve safe staffing, benefit time, fair health insurance, and fair wages. These are SJNA’s demands as they return to bargaining this week.