Workers on strike at 11 nursing homes in Illinois said they reached a tentative agreement Friday to go back to work with raises and increased pandemic pay.

Nearly 700 members of SEIU Illinois agreed on a new three-year contract with Infinity Healthcare Management, union President Greg Kelly said. Pending expected ratification Sunday, they will go back to work Monday for what leaders described as a “family reunion” with the residents for whom they care.

The settlement calls for raises of at least $1 an hour for all workers, and average increases of about $2 an hour to $15.68, union officials said.

The workers had been on strike 12 days, and without a contract since May.

Workers also won pandemic pay of $2.50 an hour, five sick days a year and an agreement to provide protective equipment against COVID-19.

“This means the world to me,” Lakeview Rehabilitation & Nursing Center worker Ros Reggans said. “It means we can go back to our residents and give them the care they deserve.”

Most of the 11 homes that would be affected by a strike are in the Chicago area. They include City View Multicare Center in Cicero, which had 249 COVID-19 cases, and Niles Nursing & Rehabilitation in Niles, which had 54 COVID-19-related deaths, both among the most at any long-term care facility in the state.

The other homes affected were Ambassador Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Continental Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Lakeview Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Southpoint Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, all in Chicago, and Oak Lawn Respiratory & Rehabilitation Center, Forest View Rehabilitation in Itasca, Parker Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Streator, West Suburban Nursing & Rehabilitation in Bloomingdale and Momence Meadows Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

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