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Caregivers vote to strike to improve continuity of resident care and secure living wages and benefits for nursing home workers

After months of unsuccessful efforts to reach a contract settlement, nursing home workers voted by 95 percent to authorize a strike. The contract negotiations cover over 8,000 caregivers in for-profit nursing homes in New York City and on Long Island. The nursing home workers are members of 1199SEIU, the city’s largest healthcare union.

The caregivers are concerned about the lack of continuity of care for their residents as the agency increasingly relies on temporary agency staffers to supplement the chronic understaffing of full-time workers. Long-term care advocates have shown that continuity of care and the nursing home staff’s relationship with residents are the cornerstones of good resident health. Additionally, the owners have submitted proposals that would significantly diminish the low-wage workers’ pay and slash healthcare benefits. The workers believe the proposed changes could lead staff to look for additional work or leave the nursing home, further jeopardizing continuity of care for residents.

Demographers note that soon older adults in New York City will outnumber school-aged children, a phenomenon they refer to as the “graying of the city.” The aging of our city and state make the working conditions of longer-term care workers, like those in nursing homes, all the more critical. The onus is on nursing home owners to ensure a stable network of caregivers to provide compassionate care to our senior citizens.

“Our members voted to strike because we felt we had no other way to challenge nursing home owners putting profits before people. Despite all of the many obstacles that we face on a daily basis, like inadequate staffing levels and short supplies, we still get the job done because we care for our residents’ well-being. What nursing home management has proposed is very insulting. As the primary caregivers, all that we are asking for is a fair contract with a living wage and benefits so that we can have the peace of mind to take care of our families and continue to give valuable care to our residents,” said Leroy Bradford, Physical Therapy Assistant at Bushwick Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare.

The workers hope the nursing home owners will settle the contract at their next negotiation session on January 26. If the union and the owners do not settle, the workers plan to move forward with planning the strike. The workers must give at least 10-days notice to employers before going out on strike. That strike would be the first for the workers since 2003.

“Our nursing home caregivers often go above the call of duty to provide comfort and care to their residents. They dig into their own pockets to buy clothes or blankets and pick up the slack so that nursing home owners maintain their profits. Caregivers have done more than their fair share and it’s time for the owners to show respect to both their residents and their staff. The owners have a responsibility to secure quality care and make sure nursing home jobs are good jobs. Unless we take this stand, our caregivers will continue to shoulder the burden and the care of our residents will suffer,” said Yvonne Armstrong, 1199SEIU Nursing Home Division Executive Vice President.

If the nursing workers strike, the following nursing homes will be affected:

• Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, 7 Route 25a, Smithtown, NY 11787

• Belair Care Center, 2478 Jerusalem Ave, Bellmore, NY 11710

• Boro Park Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 4915 10th Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11219

• Bushwick Center for Rehabilitation And Health Care, 50 Sheffield Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11207

• Cold Springs Hills Center For Nursing and Rehabilitation, 378 Syosset Woodbury Road, Woodbury, NY 11797

• Daughters of Jacob Nursing Home, 1160 Teller Ave, Bronx, NY 10456

• Garden Care Center, 135 Franklin Avenue, Franklin Square, NY 11010

• Glen Cove Center for Nursing, 6 Medical Plaza, Glen Cove, NY 11542

• Glen Island Center for Nursing And Rehabilitation, 490 Pelham Road, New Rochelle, NY 10805

• Grace Plaza Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 15 St Paul’s Place, Great Neck, NY 11021

• Hamilton Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 691 92nd Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11228

• Haven Manor Health Care Center, 1441 Gateway Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

• Haym Salomon Home for The Aged, 2340 Cropsey Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11214

• Hempstead Park Nursing Home, 800 Front Street, Hempstead, NY 11550

• Hendon Gardens, 17 11 Brookhaven Avenue, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

• Highland Care Center, 91 31 175th Street, Jamaica, NY 11432

• Hilaire Rehabilitation and Nursing, 9 Hilaire Drive, Huntington, NY 11743

• Holliswood Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare, 195 44 Woodhull Avenue, Hollis, NY 11423

• Hudson Pointe at Riverdale Center for Nursing And Rehabilitation, 3220 Henry Hudson Parkway, Bronx, NY 10463

• Kings Harbor Multicare Center, 2000 E Gunhill Road, Bronx, NY 10469

• Linden Gardens Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, 2237 Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY 11207

• Marquis Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, 2 Medical Plaza, Glen Cove, NY 11542

• Momentum at South Bay For Rehabilitation and Nursing, 340 East Montauk Highway, East Islip, NY 11730

• Nesconset Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 100 Southern Boulevard, Nesconset, NY 11767

• Northern Manor Geriatric Center, 199 N Middletown Road, Nanuet, NY 10954

• Providence Care, Inc., 835 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233

• Ramapo Manor Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing, 30 Cragmere Road, Suffern, NY 10901

• Richmond Center For Rehabilitation and Specialty Health Care, 91 Tompkins Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10304

• Ross Health Care Center, 839 Suffolk Avenue, Brentwood, NY 11717

• Sayville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 300 Broadway Avenue, Sayville, NY 11782

• Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care, 391 North Country Road, Smithtown, NY 11787

• Somers Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Route 100, Somers, NY 10589

• Suffolk Center for Rehabilitation And Nursing, 25 Schoenfeld Blvd, Patchogue, NY 11772

• Sunrise Manor Center for Nursing, 1325 Brentwood Road, Bay Shore, NY 11706

• Woodbury Center for Health Care, 8533 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, NY 11797

• Woodhaven Nursing Home, 1360 Route 112, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776

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With over 400,000 members in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida and Washington D.C., 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the country. Our mission is to achieve quality healthcare and good jobs for all

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