After push by Gov. Lamont, nursing home owners and union reach deal to avoid disruptive strike. Nursing home workers will earn at least $20 per hour.
Negotiators reached a deal Thursday evening to avoid a strike at dozens of nursing homes in
Workers at 26 skilled nursing facilities around the state had threatened to strike Friday morning over pay and other issues, but now the agreement brokered by Lamont will bring substantial raises, boosting the hourly wages of most nursing home workers to a minimum of
The deal represents a significant political win for Lamont, who has been criticized by labor leaders and progressives in the legislature for failing to address the needs of those who are struggling and resisting efforts to raise taxes on the wealthy.
“The nursing home operators, and [the union representing the workers] have gotten together and we have a basic agreement, which is a four-year deal that puts front and center our nurses who have been there at the nursing homes taking care of our seniors through thick and thin over the last 14 months,’' Lamont said at a late afternoon press conference.
The union representing the workers, SEIU 1199 of
“This is still a negotiation and a discussion that is happening both with [the union] and the individual nursing homes,’' Mounds said. “We will be waiting further for details but we feel we are in a very promising position much different than we were at this time [Wednesday.]”
With the tentative four-year agreement, the union agreed to postpone Friday’s scheduled work stoppage and formally rescinded its strike notices. However, new notices were issued for
The proposal lifts the wages of certified nursing assistants to
“I want to acknowledge and thank the leadership of Gov.
“Nursing home residents, their families, caregivers and the operators all can rest easier tonight with this critically important breakthrough achievement” Barrett said in a statement.
The breakthrough in the labor dispute came Thursday, after the governor’s office put forth a new four-year package that would increase funding to the nursing home industry by
That’s a bigger increase than the 4.5% percent over each of two years that Lamont offered Monday, as part of what his aides called their “best and final offer.”
The proposal also includes a 10% increase in Medicaid funding, from
The union had been seeking a commitment for a “long term care workers’ bill of rights,’' that includes raising all wages to a minimum of
Faced with low wages and what they say is chronic understaffing, more than 3,000 unionized health care workers at the 26 skilled nursing facilities had authorized the strike. Additional strikes are planned for
The showdown pitted an industry devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic against low-wage employees who have had to provide care as the virus raced through their workplace.
The state was not a direct party to the negotiations but because it licenses skilled nursing facilities, most of which receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding primarily through the federal Medicaid program, it played a major role.
The union must reach agreements with each nursing home operator, Lamont said. “Right now all the early indications are that 1199, the union, feels very confident that this is a good agreement,’' he said. “They do have to reach an agreement with each of the nursing home operators. These are private companies ... we’re just the guys that fund about 85% of it.”
The package will cost taxpayers about
Lamont said he hoped both sides would formally accept the deal Thursday night.
“I am very pleased on behalf of the seniors in our nursing homes, on behalf of the front-line workers who showed up every day, I’m very pleased the 1199 union sat down with the nursing home operators and came to a just conclusion,’' Lamont said.
The nursing home workforce consists of dietary aides, housekeepers, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. The bulk of the workers are certified nursing assistants.
“They were on the front lines for our most vulnerable residents during the worst pandemic in a century and we rightfully lauded them as heroes,’' Looney said in a statement. “Now, with this agreement, we are putting money behind those words and financially supporting them for their critical work.”
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