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| Photo Credit: SEINU via CBS. |
(AP) - Hundreds of workers from 14 Pennsylvania nursing homes went on strike Friday after contract negotiations failed to produce a deal, frustrating state officials who recently approved an aid package meant to bolster staff recruitment and retention in the long-term care industry.
About 700
unionized workers walked off the job in a dispute over pay, benefits and
staffing levels. Photos and video on social media showed picket lines going up
outside many of the homes, with workers carrying signs and wearing the purple
T-shirts of their union, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.
“Our goal
has always been — and continues to be — to get a fair contract that invests in
this entire workforce and will meaningfully address the staffing crisis,” said
Matthew Yarnell, SEIU president.
He accused
the nursing home operators of “failing to create the kind of wage scales we’ve
been able to achieve with other providers.”
Talks began
Thursday morning and ended early Friday without an agreement, with no new
negotiations scheduled. The strike impacted homes in a dozen counties
throughout the state.
Nursing
homes have long struggled with high turnover, which the COVID-19 pandemic made
worse, and some facilities were forced to close or downsize because of lagging
Medicaid reimbursements, according to trade groups.
State
lawmakers and the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf recently hiked Medicaid
payments to nursing homes by nearly $300 million annually and sent another $130
million in federal coronavirus aid to help them hire and retain workers. The
additional Medicaid funding represents a 17.5% increase, or about $35 more per
resident per day.
Elizabeth
Rementer, a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, called the strike
“unfortunate and completely avoidable” in light of the new funding.
She said the
package had bipartisan support “and was celebrated by both industry and the
workforce. Now, less than 60 days after the governor’s signature on this
historic legislation, we’re hearing of select nursing home operators who are
refusing to commit to the types of investments this funding was intended to
support.”
The
Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which represents for-profit nursing
homes, noted the increased Medicaid reimbursements do not kick in until
January, and the American Rescue Plan money has not yet been distributed.
“While providers, (without) distributed funds,
are negotiating worker contracts to support higher wages, they also need to
sustain operations and have the financial means to support a new increased
staffing minimum that requires hiring more workers,” the group tweeted.
The group
also said the union is making new wage demands that were not accounted for in
the July funding deal.
Donna
Pronio, a certified nursing assistant at Shenandoah Heights nursing home in
Schuylkill County, was among about 30 workers on a picket line Friday. She said
the workers have been without a contract since the beginning of the year.
“The money
we fought for in Harrisburg, we felt should be a talking point and something to
put toward the residents and workers. But they still haven’t bargained in good
faith,” Pronio said in a phone interview. “We’re just trying to get recognized
and appreciated.”
Most of the
nursing homes are operated by two companies, Comprehensive Healthcare and
Priority Healthcare.
Priority
used agency staff to fill shifts vacated by the striking workers, according to
the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which counts Priority as a member.
“It is
important to remember that the health care workers arriving at these facilities
are there to care for the residents,” said Zach Shamberg, the trade group’s
president and CEO. “We are asking those on the picket lines and the general
public to honor that and support them while negotiations between the union and
providers continue.”
Unionized
workers employed by Guardian Healthcare reached agreement on a contract earlier
this week, averting strike plans at 10 Guardian nursing homes.
Pennsylvania
has about 700 licensed nursing homes.