Due to their concerns about the kind of health care provided, a committed union of interns and residents at Cook County Hospital, Chicago's only public hospital, are forced to strike for better patient care. This film documents their eighteen-day strike from the inside. This landmark labor film features Dr. Quentin Young, a physician from the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago and pioneering healthcare activist. He served as Chairman of Cook County Hospital during this era when the hospital primarily served poor and uninsured patients. Although Young had advised against the strike, the hospital fired him when he did not impose any disciplinary actions against his staff. In a subsequent lawsuit, he argued because he was not informed about why he was fired, his termination was illegal. He was reinstated a month later. During this period, Kartemquin operated as a collective committed to working with marginalized communities engaged in social and political struggles.