Union negotiators have rejected the offer, according to a spokesperson for the nursing home association.

“A strike will further exacerbate the staffing strain caused by COVID-19 and may compromise the ability of some nursing homes to meet the critical needs of their residents," Bob Molitor, a board member of the nursing home association and CEO of Alden Network, said in a statement. 

Union workers at 64 nursing homes across the state, with most of them in the Chicago area, approved a May 8 strike date. SEIU has said nurses work long hours for low pay, and often lack personal protective equipment. Nursing homes have been a significant COVID hot spot, with WBEZ-FM/91.5 reporting that nursing homes accounted for 44 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the state. 

SEIU Healthcare Illinois has previously demanded pay increases, hazardous pay during the COVID-19 pandemic, better access to personal protective equipment and better sick pay and paid time off provisions in the contract, which ended on April 30. The union has said it is prepared to strike starting at 6 a.m. on Friday.