Lamont’s nursing home wage offer is close to union demand
The Lamont administration is “very close” to meeting the demands of the union representing 3,000 nursing home workers poised to strike Friday morning, the state’s budget director said Wednesday.
“The funding on the table between what the state and industry is offering gets us very close,” Melissa McCaw said in a meeting with editors and publishers.
But the union conveyed a different tone earlier Wednesday, saying the $280 million from the administration was not enough to provide workers with better wages, benefits, and staffing levels that it wants to see in a new contract.
The package includes $150 million in added Medicaid spending over two years for raises plus $130 million in other money, also mostly from Medicaid, for workers and nursing homes.
The union is looking for a $200 million increase in Medicaid spending for wages over the next two years, Rob Baril, president of SEIU District 1199, said Wednesday.
The public back-andforth over wage and benefit enhancements for the workers — on a day when formal negotiations apparently remained stalled — unfolded against a tense backdrop over preparations for a possible strike at 6 a.m. Friday.
Baril announced that the union had pushed back the strike date for 400 workers of the original 3,400, at seven of the homes, because the company that runs those homes — RegalCare Management Group — had failed to make arrangements for the care of residents.
Those workers now have a May 28 strike date, Baril said, blaming the RegalCare CEO for the apparent failure, which could violate state law requiring homes to have a strike plan in place.
The operators of the remaining 26 facilities subject to Friday’s strike estimate they will spend millions of dollars to bring in replacement workers and cover other costs associated with a potential strike.
The Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that it had approved the strike contingency plans filed by the owners of the 26 facilities. They include iHealth Network, Genesis Healthcare and Autumn Lake Healthcare.
RegalCare’s CEO, Eliyahu Mirlis, would not directly comment on the status of the plan that was required to be in
place in response to Friday’s potential strike, but said the company appreciated the union rescinding the notices until May 28.
The seven RegalCare facilities affected are in Glastonbury, Torrington, Waterbury, New Haven, West Haven, Greenwich and Fairfield.
“We are not looking to get into a war of words with the union, rather we appreciate the funding the Lamont administration has given the industry and we are ready, willing and able to sit down with the union to discuss passing those funds along to the deserving workers and employees,” Mirlis said by phone Wednesday afternoon.
David Dearborn, a DPH spokesman, confirmed that the department had yet to approve RegalCare’s plan, and that prior to the union’s rescission of the May 14 strike notices, the department “was continuing to exert pressure on RegalCare regarding its contingency staffing and care planning.”
Acting public health commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford has said companies that do not submit adequate plans could be subject to “large fines.” The department did not say whether RegalCare had been assessed penalties or fines.
Mirlis said RegalCare would submit a new plan for the May 28 strike notices, and that it had already paid more than $2 million to two staffing companies to retain replacement staff, pay for plane tickets, lodging, and administrative costs.
With less than two days until the potential strike of thousands of nursing home workers at 26 other facilities, nursing home operators were flying in hundreds of replacement staff who could fill in for unionized workers as needed.
Lori Mayer, a spokesperson for Genesis HealthCare, which operates 11 of the homes subject to Friday’s strike, said 300 replacement workers are en route from other states, many of whom are being flown in. And iCareHealth Network, which also operates 11 homes, where 1,100 workers are threatening to strike, contracted for more than 400 replacement staff.
The “vast majority” of the iCareHealth replacement workers are coming from out of state and flying in Wednesday and Thursday, said David Skoczulek, vice president of business development for the company.
Those replacement workers are receiving an orientation program and materials, staying in local hotels and will be prepared for immediate deployment when needed, Skoczulek said.
Almost enough?
Lamont’s top aides continued to describe the $280 million package, including the $150 million for wages, as unprecedented and the best the state could offer.
A total of $200 million for wages, Baril said, would enable “all workers in the industry to make a minimum starting wage of $20 an hour with health insurance and retirement.”
That would require about $100 million in spending from the state, given the federal Medicaid match, Baril said. And that amounts to $20 million less than what the Lamont administration is proposing for wage increases over the next two years.
“We are hopeful the administration and legislature will put the priority on caregiving that it deserves,” Baril said.
When asked why the administration wouldn’t simply up its offer in the wage component by $50 million, much of which the federal Medicaid program would pay, McCaw, Lamont’s budget chief, said that might not be necessary.
“Medicaid is one major payer but there’s also Medicare that’s a major payer and that’s why the industry is very much interested in coming to the table because they also have resources to bring to this package,” McCaw said.
The Lamont administration is not a direct party in negotiations between the union and nursing home operators over a new contract. But as the major payer through the state-federal Medicaid system, the administration is in talks with both sides to avert a strike.
The governor said his administration has already provided $280 million to the nursing home industry aid in its response to the pandemic including funding for Covid-19 testing, vaccinations, and personal protective equipment.
“I’m not Ok with a strike,” Lamont said at Wednesday’s meeting with editors and publishers. “Our seniors in these nursing homes have gone through absolute hell for the last 12 months and I’ve got to tell you, we’ve stepped up to help nursing home operators that have been unable to help themselves.”
In addition to the union, the nursing home industry is demanding more money from the Lamont administration — $312 million immediately to cover increased costs due to decreased occupancy during the pandemic and historic Medicaid underfunding, and even more than that to settle collective bargaining issues.
Strike threats from 6,000 workers in two industries
Workers at six other nursing homes authorized a strike for May 28. In total, 4,000 nursing home workers, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, receptionists, dietary aides, housekeeping and laundry staff, across 39 Connecticut facilities are planning to strike this month.
In addition to the nursing home employees, about 2,000 group home workers, also from SEIU District 1199, voted to authorize a strike effective May 21 — with many of the same demands as the nursing home workers.
The nursing home industry and state have warned that these strikes are costly, and at the expense of state taxpayers.
Friday’s strike would cost the state nearly $2 million on the first day to fund replacement workers and other strike costs at the iCare nursing homes, alone, said Skoczulek, the iCareHealth VP.
“A long-term strike will cost the state nearly $360,000 per day following the initial week,” he said.
Those costs only apply to iCare facilities and do not include costs incurred by other nursing home operators or money that could be spent on National Guard personnel, who’ve been put on standby to assist public health officials with monitoring the affected homes.
The Guard served a similar role during the pandemic, aiding the public health department with nursing home inspections.