Approximately 1,200 workers at 12 western New York state not-for-profit skilled nursing facilities are planning to follow through with threats to strike later this month if their wage demands are not met.
According to 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the union that represents nurses and caregivers throughout New York, 98.6% of workers voted by an overwhelming majority at each facility in favor of holding one-day strikes, July 12 and 13, after failed negotiations for a new labor agreement with their owner, Elderwood. Most have been without contracts since April 30, according to the union.
The union members are asking for a $15 minimum wage for service workers, higher start rates for new employees and standardized wage scales based on experience. Caregivers say that wage improvements are needed to retain experienced workers to care for residents and also to recruit new workers to help at understaffed facilities.
The one-day strikes can be avoided, the union said, if the union can reach a settlement with Elderwood ahead of the deadline.
“But the for-profit out of town employers must be willing to invest in local workers so there are enough regular long-term staff to provide consistent and quality care for residents,” said Grace Bogdanove, 1199SEIU Vice-President for Western New York Nursing Home Division.
The provider issued a brief statement, noting that it prefers to address the issues and possibility of strike in a private manner, McKnight’s reported.
“We continue to focus our efforts at the bargaining table and to engage in meaningful dialog [sic] about the concerns 1199SEIU has put forth to date,” Elderwood said in a statement to local media. “So far, we believe that substantive progress toward a new agreement has been made. This includes a wage plan that represents the most generous wage offer Elderwood has ever extended in a collective bargaining environment.”
The facilities that face worker strikes are: Autumn View Health Care Facility, Hamburg; Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Buffalo; Elderwood at Lockport, Lockport; Elderwood at Williamsville, Williamsville; Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing, Buffalo; Fiddler’s Green Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center Springville; Garden Gate Health Care Facility, Cheektowaga; Gowanda Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Gowanda; Humboldt House Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Buffalo; Newfane Rehabilitation & Health Center, Newfane; North Gate Health Care Facility, North Tonawanda; and Seneca Health Care Center, West Seneca.
Elsewhere, in Bloomfield Hills, MI, workers at the SKLD Bloomfield Hills, a 159-bed skilled nursing facility, have approved a one-day strike for July 11, the Detroit Free Press reported.
“It’s the pay. It’s the (lack of) bonuses,” said Aulana Harper, who said she has worked as a certified nursing assistant at the facility for two years, according to the media outlet. “And when we come with concerns, they sweep it under the rug. We just want our voices to be heard and for them to respect us.”
