Picketing, strikes loom for LTC, home care workers, union says

Long-term care and home care members of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East are prepared to strike if their employers do not satisfactorily address their requests.

The union on Monday issued 10-day notices of informal picketing to six long-term care facilities in western New York, as contract talks continue from late February.

Union members work as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse assistants and related jobs. The picketing will occur April 7 and 9.

Workers at the six skilled nursing facilities in Erie and Niagara counties are part of a coordinated campaign that includes 27 long-term care facilities (4,000 union nursing home members) in Erie, Niagara, Allegany and Cattaraugus  counties. Union contracts covering a majority of the SNF workers are set to expire April 30. 

“Nursing home workers participating in the coordinated campaign are fighting for fair and living wages, quality affordable health insurance benefits, and pension improvements that will recruit and retain more workers to provide care for residents,” the union said. “Workers believe that a comprehensive benefits package including quality health insurance, training and education, and a childcare fund will improve staffing levels at area nursing homes.”

Home care workers poised to strike

Meanwhile, University of Rochester Medicine Home Care workers will return to the bargaining table with management this afternoon. If management does not provide a counter offer to keep negotiations moving forward, workers may strike, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East said Monday.

Caregivers in seven upstate New York counties have been negotiating since last May for their first union contract, asking for “reasonable” patient caseloads and more affordable health insurance coverage. Workers voted last week to strike for up to five days to protest what they see as the university’s failure to move on existing proposals.

“UR Medicine Home Care fails to make movement at the bargaining table.  It’s simply unacceptable at this point in contract talks. Workers make sacrifices to attend bargaining – some driving for hours to be there and the employer repeatedly wastes their time by not providing a counter offer,” Tracey Harrison, 1199SEIU vice president for Rochester Corning, stated Friday.

Last month, the union reported that Sarah Miller, vice president of human resources URMHC, told workers that “nothing in life is free” in response to their request for more affordable healthcare coverage for their families. 

Professional and clinical home care workers held a one-day strike last month to protest what they deemed as unfair labor practices at University of Rochester Medicine Home Care, an affiliate of the University of Rochester.