Nurses strike called off for University of Chicago

(Reuters) – A walkout by nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center was averted after the healthcare workers reached a tentative agreement with administrators, but strikes are still planned at hospitals in California, the union said.

National Nurses United and the university said on Tuesday they had reached an agreement in late night negotiations on Monday, calling off the strike at midnight. Details of the agreement have not been released.

Strikes at facilities owned by Kaiser Permanente, Providence Health and Services, and Sutter Health would still take place as planned on Thursday and Friday unless agreements were reached before then, said Chuck Idelson, a spokesman for the California Nurses Association, an affiliate of National Nurses United.

The one- and two-day walkouts would be held in Los Angeles, Sacramento and other cities, he said.

Issues in contention vary from location to location, but they include salary, health benefits and nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, Idelson said.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Eric Beech)

• National Nurses United
• California Nurses Association