Florida Nursing Home Caregivers Ratify New Union Contract with Patients on their Mind and in their Hearts

January 1, 1970

On January 16, Keneeshia Jackson and Latisha Davis, two nursing home caregivers out of 600 represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East at the Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches and six other Airamid Health Services-owned facilities, cast their votes to approve new union contracts, but it was not the wage increase or additional healthcare options for the workers that first came to mind after casting their votes, it was how much they love their patients.



Jackson’s face lights up when reminiscing about the residents she cares for as a certified nursing assistant at the West Palm Beach nursing home.



“The people that we take care of, I love them. For some reason I love old people,” says Jackson jokingly before letting out a heart-warming laugh. “My favorite time is in the morning when you’re talking to them because they say funny things,” she adds, before recounting a chat she had with a woman who she describes as resembling Lucille Ball, the former star of the hit 1950’s TV show I Love Lucy.



It is residents like these that make Jackson and Davis happy to have united with their co-workers as members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East in order to have a strong voice at work to speak up on behalf of their patients and co-workers. “I love working with elderly people, making sure they get what they’re supposed to. I love what I do,” says Davis, a dietary aide who has been working at Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches for the last eight years.



Jackson credits her union for helping her step up as a leader to make sure her co-workers can deliver the best care possible in a work environment where their input is taken into consideration.



“I went into the nursing field and it opened up my eyes to a whole other world that I was just lost to. I didn’t know anything about it, and then when I got involved with the union, it opened my eyes up to a whole other world,” says Jackson. “I didn’t realize there were people out there who would actually listen to what you had to say and take account for it, and actually try to do something about it, instead of you just feeling like you have nowhere to turn, no one to talk to, no one to listen.”



Jackson described sitting across the bargaining table from management as “invigorating” and a great opportunity to work together to find solutions to the challenges she and her co-workers face at work.



“To actually sit down with [management] and say ‘hey, these are the problems we’re having,’ and then sometimes, they’ll actually say ‘I didn’t know that was going on, I’m going to get on top of that and find out what’s going on.’ That’s what I like about it,” says Davis.



In addition to providing caregivers with a stronger voice at work to find solutions to the challenges they face on a daily basis, the contract provides a wage increase and better healthcare options for them and their co-workers.



Caregivers now have the option to seek out subsidized health insurance options in the Health Insurance Marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, or they can enroll in the health insurance plan offered by their employer, whichever is better.



While happy that they have secured new benefits that will have a positive impact on their own lives as a result of their new union contract, one thing above all else is abundantly clear, Jack and Davis, like many of their co-workers, love their patients.



New union contracts, with these benefits and others, were ratified at the following nursing homes:



Rehab Titusville, Brevard County

Rehab and Healthcare Center of Tampa, Hillsborough County

Alpine, Pinellas County

South Heritage, Pinellas County

Sanford Rehab, Seminole County

Treasure Isle, Miami-Dade County

Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County