BUFFALO, N.Y. — Niagara County nursing home workers plan to strike due to unfair labor practices while another nursing home reaches a one year tentative agreement rather quickly.
Workers at Absolut Care are planning to strike in Allegany, Aurora Park, Westfield, and Orchard Park on June 13 at 6 a.m. This is following disappointments after corporate's last offer still left employees below the standard wages and benefits of nursing homes in WNY.
According to 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Absolut Care is threatening workers that are planning on participating in the strike.
They plan to continue bargaining tomorrow, June 10, at 9 a.m. The strikes will still be on if no agreement is reached.
Schoellkopf Health Center, on the other hand, quickly reached an agreement that includes Juneteenth and Labor Day as paid holidays, and a new 10-step wage scale with additional longevity increases for employees that have worked there for over 25 years.
This agreement also includes an average 11% wage increase, increased pension, increases to shift differential, and more.
"I am very pleased with the results and mutual respect with hard work that it took to make this contract one of the best ever,” said Earl Pugh, Licensed Practical Nurse. “We worked to combine our bargaining units into one agreement."
“We are thrilled to have reached this tentative agreement at Schoellkopf,” said Grace Bogdanove, 1199SEIU Vice-President for WNY Nursing Homes. “Management came to the table earnestly and collaboratively to ensure that recruitment and retention were a collective priority. It is incredibly disappointing that our negotiations with Absolut Care are in stark contrast to Schoellkopf’s approach, which put workers and quality resident care first."
For more information, read here.
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