Group homes facing strike say they’re waiting for state money
But Whole Life won’t be able to reach an agreement with the workers on benefits until it knows how much money it’s going to receive from the state, Cordock said. The strike notices affect 334 workers at 38 group homes operated by Whole Life.
The operators of a combined 70 group homes in Connecticut where more than 600 unionized workers are set to strike said Tuesday they support their employees’ fight for better wage and benefits, as brokered by the state.
But they can’t agree to the increases in new, twoyear contracts with the workers until they receive funding from the state dedicated for health care and retirement costs for employees. Earlier Tuesday, they received strike notices from the state’s largest health care union, SEIU 1199, saying workers planned to walk off the job at 6 a.m. on Oct. 5.
The heads of Whole Life and Network, whose homes serve intellectually disabled clients, said they are in the midst of applying for the state funding ahead of the Oct. 6 deadline.
“We strongly believe that our hard-working and dedicated employees deserve the higher wages and improved benefits that were agreed to by the Union and the Governor’s Office earlier this summer,” Sheila Cordock, executive director of Whole Life, said by email.
Before their first bargaining session, Whole Life went to SEIU with a proposal to immediately implement the wage increases, Cordock said. But the union declined, “citing the need to bargain over and/or agree to all their other proposals first,” she said.
After the July 30 session, SEIU’s negotiator “apparently left” or “was reassigned,” and Whole Life did not hear from the union about bargaining for several weeks, Cordock said. The two parties have scheduled another session for Sept. 30, when Whole Life plans to renew its request to implement the wage increases retroactive to July 1.
But Whole Life won’t be able to reach an agreement with the workers on benefits until it knows how much money it’s going to receive from the state, Cordock said. The strike notices affect 334 workers at 38 group homes operated by Whole Life.
Facing an earlier strike threat, Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers set aside an added $184 million in June for higher pay and benefits for the workers.
The executive director of Network, Susan Pearson said the group is also applying for the retirement and health care money from the state and can’t institute wage increases without that funding because employees’ pension benefits are tied to how much they earn.
“Network has always supported 100 percent the folks who are doing this work,” Pearson said by phone Tuesday. “We can’t speak highly enough about them.”
Thirty facilities operated by Network and nearly 300 workers are affected by the strike notices.
“A strike would just be catastrophic to clients,” Pearson said, adding that clients at three of Network’s homes requiring 24-hour nursing staff. “These are very fragile, medically involved folks.”