A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has called on the Care One nursing home chain to fully reinstate and compensate 1199SEIU members who were unlawfully terminated from Somerset Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Bound Brook, NJ.

Administrative Law Judge Steven Davis evaluated 19 days of hearings and found that workers had been illegally fired for participating in union activities. The ruling is a long-awaited victory for Somerset workers who were regularly intimidated by management and eventually fired from the facility following a successful union organizing campaign in September 2010.

Judge Davis directed Care One to offer reinstatement and compensation to the 10 workers found to be unlawfully terminated, giving management 14 days to comply with the order. 1199SEIU filed several charges with the NLRB that documented labor law violations and the illegal disciplining and firing workers at Somerset.

Jillian Jacques, an LPN who is one of the fired workers affected by the ruling, said, “I’m excited about returning to my job caring for residents at Somerset. It’s great that we won this victory but I know that we still have a long fight ahead. I’m looking forward to sitting down with management to negotiate a contract that guarantees our benefits in writing and to making sure that Somerset is the best place to work and to receive care.”

Workers at Somerset voted to form a union to advocate for the needs of their residents and to create a better future for the caregivers who take care of them. Rather than focusing on the quality of resident care, however, Somerset’s management spent considerable time and resources to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. It also hired at least six out-of-state lawyers to be present at the NLRB hearings leading up to the most recent decision.

“Seniors and people with disabilities depend on these devoted caregivers,” said 1199SEIU Executive Vice President Milly Silva. “When Somerset wastes resources on harassing workers, both caregivers and nursing home residents suffer.”

Somerset is a Care One facility. Care One is the second largest nursing home chain in New Jersey and has 62 nursing homes throughout the country, including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut.