Our nurses at AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill. have voted to approve their most recently proposed contract and return to work.

Safe staffing was the reason the nurses sacrificed so much during these negotiations. They sacrificed their paychecks to try to get something better for their patients. Ultimately, it became clear that AMITA is philosophically opposed to accountability for safe staffing, and no matter how long the nurses stayed out on the unfair labor practice strike, AMITA would not agree to accountability for safe staffing. The nurses decided to continue the fight for safe staffing in Springfield and by educating the public on why safe staffing is so badly needed at the hospital. This is one more step in their journey for safe staffing; it doesn’t end here.

You can read Chicago Tribune’s coverage of SJNA nurses’ approval vote here.