Nursing home strike is canceled
Health care union not declaring victory yet
The strike of thousands of nursing home workers is off, but the standoff continues even with the crisis eased.
The state’s largest health care union has reached a deal with just one of the nine nursing home companies targeted. The union is prepared to take that deal to the remaining operators to get them to agree to new four-year contracts that include significant wage increases and enhanced benefits for workers.
Until then, Service Employees International
Union District 1199 New England is not declaring victory.
“The reason why reaching an agreement with iCare is critical for the strike is that now we expect every operator to follow that contract to the letter,” Pedro Zayas, spokesman for District 1199, said by phone Friday, referring to iCare Health Network, the company that agreed to the contract.
The strike had been set for 6 a.m. Friday but the union called off the picket lines Thursday evening, just hours before the work stoppage was to begin, as a sweeteened deal brokered by Gov. Ned Lamont’s top aides made it possible for both parties to get back to the table.
Now the union, the workers, the companies involved and state officials are looking back at a strike threat that raised awareness of the plight of workers and nursing home operators coming out of the pandemic — and looking ahead at solutions they hope are lasting.
“The workers really wanted a victory,” Zayas said. “They really wanted to make a statement and they feel they have done so.”
“But it’s not final yet,” he added.
New strike notices were issued for 26 nursing home facilities and 2,800 workers for June 7 – “a place holder to make sure we get everything in writing with every operator,” Zayas said.
And more than 1,200 workers at 13 nursing homes issued strike notices for May 28, which remain in effect, bringing the total potential strike threat to 4,000 frontline workers at 39 homes, the union said.
iCare Health Network, which operates 11 of the homes, became the first company to reach agreement with District 1199. The union announced the agreement late Thursday evening, saying the new four-year contract would set “historic” minimum wages of $20 per hour for certified nursing assistants and $30 per hour for licensed practical nurses.
Low-wage workers would also see their rates increased, Zayas said, a major demand from the union to help attract more people to work in the industry and address longstanding staffing shortages. “We have CNAs who’ve been working for 20 years who are not making $20 per hour yet,” he said.
The agreement with iCare also includes a meaningful victory for racial and economic justice for the workers, who are predominately black and brown women, Zayas said, as it declares June 19, known as Juneteenth, which marks the announcement of abolition of slavery in Texas, as an employee holiday.
iCare said through a spokesman Friday that the final details of the deal are still being worked out.
“The workers really wanted a victory. They really wanted to make a statement and they feel they have done so.” Pedro Zayas, spokesman for District 1199
“We are very pleased that the Lamont administration saw the value in joining with us and investing in our dedicated workforce and a in vision for long term care over the next four years,” David Skoczulek, vice president of business development for iCare, said by email Friday. “We’re still crafting the final details of the deal at this point and so we are working from a postponement of the strike date.”
Industry representatives also applauded the news.
In a statement released Thursday evening, Matt Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Facilities, singled out Lamont and his leadership team for “providing a policy and budgetary framework of wage and benefits enhancements and pandemic-related increased support financial support that jumpstarted the discussions” that led to the strike being averted.
The $267 million offer from the state, which initially proposed spending $280 million, includes a 10 percent boost to the Medicaid reimbursement, worth $86 million, which would last from July until next March, to help the nursing home industry recover financially from pandemic-related occupancy declines and increased costs.
That’s in addition to wage and benefits increases financed by Medicaid: 4.5 percent in the first fiscal year, starting July 1, and 6.2 percent in the following year. It also includes a 10 percent boost to the Medicaid reimbursement, worth $86 million, which would last from July until next March, to help the nursing home industry recover financially from pandemic-related occupancy declines and increased costs.
While not a direct party to the negotiations, the state got involved as the major payer to the nursing homes through the statefederal Medicaid system.
While the deal averted Friday’s strike, at least temporarily, it did not stop millions of dollars from being spent on strike contingency costs. The nursing home companies had hired replacement workers, many coming from out of state, and made other arrangements — much of which is billable to state and federal taxpayers through Medicaid.
And more strike threats are still on the horizon. In total, workers at 51 nursing homes are working under expired contracts, Zayas said.