Thousands of Florida Nursing Home Caregivers to Strike for $15 on April 14th

April 7, 2016

During the National Day of Action for the Fight for $15, caregivers from 19 Consulate Healthcare nursing homes in Florida organize the largest strike in the Southeast in more than a decade.

NOTE: See full list of facilities striking on Thursday, April 14th at the bottom. Details of public events at different facilities will be announced soon.

MIAMI, FL – On the heels of two major victories for underpaid workers where New York and California committed to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, thousands of Florida caregivers working at 19 private nursing homes owned by Consulate Healthcare will go on strike to demand $15. This could be the largest private healthcare sector strike in the Southeast in more than a decade. The caregivers will join millions of workers throughout the country for a National Day of Action on April 14th demanding $15 an hour minimum wage.

Represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East in Florida, the workers have been advocating for better conditions for both the residents and the employees since last year, but Consulate executives have not addressed their concerns. Low wages can have serious consequences for nursing homes residents, because high rates of worker turnover interrupt continuity of care and compromise quality of care, which can put residents at risk. Dozens of Consulate workers visited their corporate offices on March 24th to deliver over 1,000 petitions asking CEO Bill Mathies to raise their salaries. However, they were forced out of the property by other Consulate employees and law enforcement.

“As caregivers, we are dedicated to caring for our residents because we know they are someone’s mother or father. Our responsibility at work is big. However, we also need to take care of our families, and Consulate is shortchanging us with poverty wages,” said Kim White, a certified nursing assistant at Lake Mary Health and Rehabilitation Center, during the visit to Consulate headquarters. “We’ve given them opportunity upon opportunity to give us a living decent wage, but we’ve been shut down every time. We are tired of asking for cents and now we’re demanding dollars.”

Consulate Healthcare is the sixth-largest long term care provider in the nation and the largest in Florida; and, as usual in the nursing home industry, is mostly funded by tax dollars via Medicaid/Medicare. While the nursing home industry has enjoyed five straight years of market growth with revenues exceeding $350 billion annually, Consulate Executives are cutting vital corners to resident care. 65% of Consulate’s nursing homes are rated “below average” or “much below average” by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, representing some of the lowest performance scores in the nation. More than one-third of Consulate homes were fined for neglecting to safely care for residents over the past three years. Read more in this report about Consulate.

“Consulate is double-dipping from the pockets of taxpayers to get rich! They are cutting hours and staffing to increase their profits, forcing employees to apply for public assistance because they don’t pay enough, while Consulate is receiving public money through Medicaid and Medicare,” says Clara Smith, Orlando Area Director for 1199SEIU Florida. “Consulate is not at the heart of caring as they claim to be, and they are prioritizing their profits while compromising the quality of care provided to our loved ones. If providing quality care really mattered for Consulate, quality jobs for their caregivers should be a priority.”

LIST OF STRIKING CONSULATE NURSING HOMES IN FLORIDA Bay Breeze Health and Rehabilitation Center - 1026 Albee Farm Rd, Venice, FL 34285

Consulate Health Care at West Altamonte - 1099 West Town Parkway, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714

Consulate Health Care of Kissimmee - 2511 John Young Parkway North, Kissimmee, FL 34741

Consulate Healthcare of West Palm Beach - 1626 Davis Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33406

Oaktree Healthcare - 640 Reed Canal Road, South Daytona, FL 32119

Plantation Bay Rehabilitation Center - 4641 Canoe Creek Road, St. Cloud, FL 34769

Renaissance Health and Rehabilitation - 5065 Wallis Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33415

Rio Pinar Health Care - 7950 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, FL 32822

Vista Manor - 1550 Jess Parrish Court, Titusville, FL 32796

Coral Trace Health Care - 216 Santa Barbara Blvd. Cape Coral, FL 33991

Franco Nursing & Rehabilitation Center - 800 NW 95th Street, Miami, FL 33150

Grand Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center - 3001 Palm Coast Parkway SE, Palm Coast, FL 32137

Hillcrest Health Care and Rehabilitation Center - 4200 Washington Street, Hollywood, FL 33021

Lake Mary Health and Rehabilitation Center - 710 North Sun Drive, Lake Mary, FL 32746

Rosewood Health and Rehabilitation Center - 3920 Rosewood Way, Orlando, FL 32808

Spring Hill Health and Rehabilitation Center - 12170 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, FL 34613

The Palms Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center - 5405 Babcock Street NE, Palm Bay, FL 32905

The Parks Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center - 9311 South Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32837

Consulate Health Care of North Fort Myers - 991 Pondella Rd, North Fort Myers, FL 33903



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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East Florida represents more than 25,000 nurses and healthcare workers throughout Florida and more than 400,000 workers across Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all. 1199SEIU is part of the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union. For more information, please visit www.1199seiu.org/florida