Chicago's Jackson Park Hospital nurses join union

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 94-16, 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.

Late last year Jackson Park Hospital agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That agency's investigation found that black female respiratory therapists were required to administer electrocardiograms, while male Asian-Indian therapists weren't.