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.

Hartford Courant (CT)

Negotiators reached a deal Thursday evening to avoid a strike at dozens of nursing homes in Connecticut after a late push by Gov. Ned Lamont.

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 $20 and also adding money for insurance, pensions and wellness programs.

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 New England, and the nursing home owners still need to approve the deal, but Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff who played a key role in the negotiations, said he expects all parties to sign off on the plan. As the negotiations progressed this week, Lamont reached out to Mary Kay Henry, international president of the SEIU.

“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With the tentative four-year agreement, the union agreed to postpone Friday’s scheduled work stoppage and formally rescinded its strike notices.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 June 7, meaning a walkout could still occur on that date if the contract is not ratified.

The proposal lifts the wages of certified nursing assistants to $20 per hour, from its current range of $12 to $15. Licensed practical nurses would earn an hourly minimum of $30. The workers would also receive a pension and additional contributions to cover health insurance and wellness programs.

Rob Baril, president of District 1199, SEIU, said the union sought to achieve a basic “bill of rights” for nursing home workers.

“I want to acknowledge and thank the leadership of Gov. Ned Lamont, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, Chief of Staff Paul Mounds and OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw in making it possible to meet the goal of a Long-Term Care Workers’ Bill of Rights for nursing home caregivers,” Baril said.

Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, which represents 1500 skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities, also applauded the agreement.

“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 $47.3 million in fiscal 2022 and $121.1 million in fiscal 2023. All of the money would be directed toward wage increases, which would total 4.5% in 2022 and 6.2% the following year. There are no raises scheduled in the final two years of the contract.

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 July 1 through March 31, 2022, for nursing homes that meet certain benchmarks.

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 $20 an hour.

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 May 28 at 13 other nursing homes and those notices have not yet been rescinded or postponed, although they are expected to be. The workers have been without a contract since mid-March.

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 $135 million, a figure that is actually lower than the $147 million the state would have paid under the proposal released earlier in the week, Mounds said.

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.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney said the pay increases, enhanced retirement benefits and workforce development programs outlined in the proposal are long overdue.

“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.”