Workers at six Chicago-area nursing homes set an October 16 strike date

Workers at six Chicago-area nursing homes owned by Landmark’s parent company, SAK Healthcare, say they will go on strike at 6 a.m. on October 16 if they do not have a contract by then, according to CBS News Chicago. The workers are represented by SEIU Healthcare Illinois.

The six facilities are Momence Meadows, Landmark of Lincoln Park, Landmark of Itasca, Landmark of Oak Lawn, Landmark at 95th and Landmark of Cicero. The union says the two sides have not agreed on a fair contract.

What the union says

SEIU Healthcare Illinois says Landmark workers earn below-industry-standard wages. The union says more than 120 nursing homes pay their union staff significantly more than Landmark pays its workers. In its statement, the union said “below-industry-standard pay makes it harder to retain experienced caregivers and recruit new workers.”

The union has said that if management does not meet its demands, workers will go on an unfair labor practice strike. The coverage reviewed for this article does not describe the specific charges the union has made.

The union said workers “remain hopeful that management will do the right thing and settle a fair contract.”

The company’s response

SAK Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS News Chicago. The coverage reviewed for this article contains no statement from Landmark or SAK Healthcare, no specific wage figures and no list of the union’s exact demands.

Bargaining after the master contract

Hoodline reported that, until October 2024, a multi-employer alliance of Illinois nursing homes bargained a single master contract covering wages and benefits. After the alliance disbanded, SEIU Healthcare Illinois began negotiating with individual operators. The Landmark strike notice comes out of that operator-by-operator bargaining.

A previous strike in the state

SEIU Healthcare Illinois has struck nursing homes in the state before. In November 2020, nearly 700 workers at 11 Illinois facilities run by Infinity Healthcare walked off the job over wages, hazard pay and protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine of the 11 homes were in the Chicago area. ABC 7 Chicago reported a tentative agreement to end that strike after 12 days.

In that dispute, strikers had sought pay of $15.50 an hour for certified nursing assistants and about $15 an hour for housekeepers and other workers, plus hazard pay. The settlement called for raises of at least $1 an hour for all workers, with average pay rising to $15.68 an hour. Workers also won pandemic pay of $2.50 an hour, five sick days a year and an agreement that the employer would provide protective equipment against COVID-19, according to coverage of the deal.

What happens next

The strike is set to begin at 6 a.m. on Friday, October 16, at all six facilities if no contract is reached before then. CBS News Chicago published its report at 6:18 p.m. Central time on October 6, and Hoodline followed on October 7. Neither outlet reported a response from SAK Healthcare to the strike notice by the time of publication.