This story has been updated.
The state's largest healthcare workers union set a May 19 deadline Thursday to avoid a May 19 strike involving around 5,700 caregivers at 51 nursing homes in Connecticut.
SEIU 1199ne is trying to raise workers' starting wages to $25 an hour, and has been trying to raise most employees to about $30 an hour for several years. But he added that to make that happen, the state will need to make a massive, long-deferred investment in the industry.
After “nearly 20 years of austerity,” Baril said, “we can't solve the problems that exist in nickel and dime-funded workers. We need real money to make progress.”
Currently, most nursing home workers earn between $18 and $22 an hour, and union leaders said they could make more money at McDonald's.
Equally important, he said the quality of care in the industry, which he has struggled for years, is decreasing due to inadequate state funding. Lawmakers are weighing the bill to raise the minimum daily staffing requirement per resident from three hours to 3.6 hours.
Technically, wage and benefit negotiations lie between private sector nursing homes and their staff, but states often play a role in resolving labor management disputes in this industry.
This is because, on average, more than 80% of nursing home revenues involve patients whose care is covered by federal and state Medicaid dollars.
The union estimates that it will need to add $550 million to Medicaid payments by adding an average annual $275 million for the next two fiscal years to the average of $550 million to its Medicaid payments to fund the improved wages and benefits workers are looking for.
Currently, approximately 50% of Connecticut's Medicaid costs in most regions are now covered through federal rebates, with annual costs for the state reaching around $137.5 million.
But the future of Medicaid is not certain.
Congress has set the goal of achieving Medicaid and other programs worth $880 billion over the next decade. Gov. Ned Lamont's administration model potential cuts based on various proposals on Capitol Hill, which could cost Connecticut between $186 million and $880 million a year.
Lamont and his fellow Democrats at the General Assembly are already struggling to develop new state budgets that comply with constitutional caps that maintain growth in most spending along household income and inflation.
The Approximately Expenditure Committee last week recommended a two-year budget of $55.7 billion to invest in K-12 schools, childcare and other social services, but Connecticut needs to surpass CAP by $215 million. Democrat Lamont challenges lawmakers to live within the cap, and minority Republicans are opposed to the plan.
The governor and legislature hope to create a new state budget before the regular general assembly session is postponed on June 4th.
The union, which originally predicted in late March that as many as 6,000 workers could be involved in 60 homes, has asked members forcing union leaders to order work halts over the past few weeks.
The final vote totals are still tallied, but Baril estimated that around 99% of votes supported giving them that option.
He added that there is little hope for a settlement that nursing facility owners lack far greater state spending.
“What the (owner) is telling us is, 'We don't have money,'” Baril said.
While state law technically requires certain Medicaid fee increases that reflect inflation, lawmakers and governors have not provided increases of, or less, for decades. Lamont's $55.2 billion biennial budget proposal eliminates an inflation increase of $111.4 million for the next two fiscal years.
Lamont budget spokesman Chris Collibee said a recent analysis of Social Services Division of Medicaid fees has shown that Connecticut's funding levels are positively compared to comparable size and income levels status.
Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Healthcare Facilities Association, told Connecticut Miller in late March. “Since the Covid-19 public health emergency, there has been significant financial instability in the sector.”
Barrett added Thursday that the industry is now putting more strain on its industry than it was in the spring of 2021, when workers last threatened a strike.
In March 2021, only 73.4% of nursing homes were occupied, compared to the 88.6% occupancy reported this March. And only 26 homes were involved in the threat of a strike in 2021, with roughly half of the risky homes this year.
“Although all affected Connecticut nursing homes have prepared strike contingency plans, including a replacement talent plan, it will be a major effort to ensure access to care in this environment based on the limited beds available in the event of significant disruptions with available employees,” Barrett said.
