Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Workers at 11 local nursing homes, represented by 1199SEIU, hope that a new labor contract will be agreed tentatively before the strike begins Tuesday morning.
Shameka Burnette-Matthews, 1199SEIU's management organizer, said negotiations with nursing home facilities will continue Monday in the hopes of avoiding a strike.
“Our members are willing to attack the quality profits they deserve, but once again they want to be inside, take care of the residents and sign a temporary contract before tomorrow morning,” said Burnette-Matthews, who appeared on Wben.
A small number of Western New York nursing homes have managed to reach contracts for staff new labor contracts, but workers at facilities run primarily by Elderwood and McGuire Group are waiting to see if any of the companies will return to the negotiation table. Burnette-Matthews says that both companies have refused to come to the table or have only been trying to negotiate for a short time.
“The Elderwood facility, we've been negotiating since last summer and implemented the last, last, last of management teams without even giving them time to vote for membership in March. And by the time the vote was made, membership was voted for the last, final down, and Elderwood went ahead and ultimately celebrated the burning up. “The McGuire group was not at the table until they first started working, and they had to put in mediators during negotiations.
“Of the 11 facilities, 10 are for profit. We really need the profits of out-of-town owners to make investments and improve staffing levels here. They're not here so we don't know what's going on every day.
According to Burnette-Matthews, the main goal of these labor contract consultations is quality benefits for nursing home workers, and staffing is the biggest issue at the forefront of negotiations.
“Staff rolls into a complete package of quality profits, which will help us recruit and maintain our pension scheme, childcare funds, health insurance, quality wages and of course,” she said.
Wages are also a talk of negotiations, with some facilities already agreeing to new labor contracts, seeing wage increases of up to 22%.
“Rates are currently very low and barely exceed the minimum wage for service workers. So we're increasing dramatically across the board,” says Burnett Matreuse.
According to 1199SEIU, nursing home workers would like to see some sort of settlement at all the remaining facilities by Tuesday morning, but they are not sure if that will be possible as they acknowledge the way Elderwood and the McGuire Group.
“We're hoping to negotiate all day (we're hoping to start at 6am this morning. We'll go to all the facilities in the afternoon and the evening. Our vice president, our organizer, now allows everyone to negotiate with each employer listed to take the strike.”
In the meantime, Burnette-Matthews says they are excited that the members of 1199 Seiu will stick together and know that they are not alone in this fight.
“The other health workers are all walking together, but they are also worried about their residents,” she said. “These are healthcare workers, and their passion is caring for their residents. They want to build bonds with these residents and make sure they are caring for them. But most importantly, they must be able to care for their families and themselves or they cannot care for their residents.”
