UR medicide home care workers fight for first union contract
After eight months of negotiations, the University of Rochester’s Medicine Home Care team and its professional and clinical workers have yet to reach an agreement on their first union contract.
University of Rochester Medicine Home Care (URMHC) workers provide professional home care services for patients in Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties.
Professional home care workers from URMHC assist patients transitioning from hospital to home, providing nursing care, therapy (physical, occupational, speech), and medical and social work services.
The University of Rochester and 1199SEIU, the healthcare union representing the workers, have 16 outstanding economic issues, such as manageable patient caseloads, affordable health insurance for home care workers, and comprehensive, competitive benefits packages to recruit and retain workers.
In December, employees authorized their bargaining committee to issue a 10-day notice for an informational picket.
“It’s very unusual and not typically how bargaining works,” said Elizabeth Davila, 1199SEIU administrative organizer. “We want management to treat negotiations as a high priority for not just staff, but also the patients they serve in their homes.”
While URMHC says caseloads are manageable to ensure quality care, home care workers feel otherwise. They state that University of Rochester leaders, some without healthcare experience, are not adequately addressing the needs of healthcare workers.
“Our caseloads are heavy, and many times we travel many miles to get from home to home,” said Cynthia Lorenzetti, physical therapy assistant. “We all want to do best practice and give 100% at each visit. We want to bring quality care to the patients we serve, but we also need a better work-life balance for all clinicians.”
High caseloads and job demands drive workers to leave the home healthcare industry.
Six negotiation meetings are scheduled for the first two weeks of January.
—As a Rochester native, Justice Marbury entered the world of journalism to create work where voices like hers were heard— the voices of minority communities. Marbury covers small businesses, neighborhood concerns, and the interesting people who live in Rochester’s 19th Ward. As the 19th Ward reporter, she has helped implement community outreach ideas by asking what people in various communities want to read about themselves in addition to regular news. Contact her on Instagram @justice_marbury and by email at [email protected].
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