Nursing home caregivers and theater performers conducted a satirical street theater performance outside of One Centre Street in lower Manhattan on October 18 to humorously draw attention to the exploitative practices of the Care One and HealthBridge nursing home corporations.

Caregivers and performers began their demonstration at Zuccotti Park with Occupy Wall Street protesters, and then made their way to One Centre Street, leading a procession of workers, OWS protesters and community supporters. Performers dressed in fur coats and shiny suits, and some wore signs that read, “I am the One Percent.” Caregivers addressed the gathered crowds at several points throughout the performance, telling their stories and asking Daniel Straus to support justice for workers at nursing homes run by his corporations, Care One and HealthBridge.

The action was endorsed by Occupy Wall Street’s Labor Outreach Committee and sponsored by the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU, 1199SEIU and UnitedNY.

The performance took place during a hearing of the Landmarks Preservation Commission in which the Commission was considering a Certificate of Appropriateness for a high-priced development project proposed by Daniel Straus’ company JZS Madison. Straus’ company recently bought six brownstones from the Whitney Museum for $95 million and plans to convert them to luxury condominiums. Straus, who runs nursing homes throughout the East Coast, needs the Committee’s approval for the project because the buildings are in a historic preservation district.

Two unlawfully terminated caregivers from Care One’s Somerset nursing home facility in New Jersey testified at the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing, as well as 10 neighbors and representatives of Upper East Side community groups who expressed objections to aspects of the project. The Landmarks Preservation Commissioners had substantive concerns about the project and postponed their vote on the Certificate of Appropriateness.

Daniel Straus’ companies Care One and HealthBridge have been subject to several federal Unfair Labor Practice Complaints issued by the National Labor Relations Board, including for unlawfully firing caregivers, for firing housekeepers and then rehiring them at lower wages, and for bad-faith bargaining in negotiations.

“Rich people like Daniel Straus get listened to. But I’m here today asking everyone to listen to me too,” said Gertrudis Rodriguez, who worked for Care One for three-and-a-half years as a per diem Certified Nursing Assistant, and who was removed from the schedule because of her union support. “Daniel Straus’ company Care One took away my employment. All because I dared to stand up for a voice in the workplace to improve working conditions and to ensure good quality care.”

Rodriguez continued, “If Care One and HealthBridge had no respect for workers’ rights or for federal labor law, why would we expect his development company JZS Madison to respect the law or the Upper East Side community?”

Maria Granda, a Certified Nursing Assistant who was illegally fired from Care One after four years of dedicated service, said: “Daniel Straus’ nursing home companies have refused to listen to workers. Care One did not accept the outcome of our democratic election. Instead they illegally fired and intimidated caregivers. I felt like they put corporate greed before caregivers. If Daniel Straus, through his company JZS Madison, can afford to spend $95 million buying brownstones on the Upper East Side, he can afford to give caregivers a voice in nursing homes run by his company, Care One.”

For more information, go to CareOneWatch.org