No new talks in works in 2nd day of nursing home strike

Union officials representing nearly 700 nursing home workers who hit the picket lines this week said the owner of the 11 facilities has left town and they aren’t sure when negotiations for a new contract will resume.

“The employer has refused to make a move,” said Shaba Andrich, vice president for nursing homes at SEIU Healthcare Illinois. Infinity Healthcare Management Owner Moishe Gubin “had indicated to some people that he would be available to negotiate last Sunday, but then left the state and has not been able to negotiate.”

Nursing home workers at Infinity locations in Chicago and the suburbs entered their second day on strike as negotiations remain nonexistent. Members have been fighting for improved working conditions, base salaries for between $15 and $15.50 an hour (up from $11.50 to $13.50, depending on location) and hazard pay for the duration of the pandemic.

“We want to get back to negotiations, we want him to come back with different solutions and different ideas about how we get a contract done,” Andrich said in a Zoom call Tuesday. “There is none [no meetings] happening now, there is none on the calendar.”

Infinity did not respond to a request for comment.

SEIU Healthcare Illinois, an investor in Sun-Times Media, has been negotiating for a new contract with Infinity since June.

Andrich said Infinity has countered their proposals with incremental pay raises from 10 cents to $1 per hour.

Several state legislators called on Infinity to “do the right thing.”

State Rep. Lakesia Collins, D- Chicago, said the fight for nursing home workers is especially important to her — she used to be one.

“How many more of these residents that they love and take care of have to die? How many more of their co-workers do they have to watch pass away from this virus before the nursing home owner gets it together?” Collins said.