Strike ends at Ferguson nursing home, workers to get raises

March 15--FERGUSON -- Workers at Christian Care Home have approved a new labor contract, ending a 104-day strike at the nursing home.

The strike began Dec. 1 and included nursing assistants, housekeepers and dietary workers represented by SEIU Healthcare. About 65 full-time and 25 part-time workers were striking, the union said.

The union had alleged that the nursing home engaged in unfair labor practices, and the local office of the National Labor Relations Board had made an "initial finding of merit" in that claim.

The new contract includes an across-the-board raise of 20 cents an hour that takes effect on March 1, 2019, or earlier if other staff get raises before then.

There are stipulations that will raise rates when the minimum wage increases in January 2019 and January 2020. The rate for new hires will increase in each department by the same amount, the union said, citing as an example that if the minimum wage increases 15 cents, the base rates will increase 15 cents.

A measure could appear on the November ballot to raise Missouri's minimum wage to $8.60 per hour with an 85 cents-per-hour increase each year until 2023 when the state minimum wage would be $12 per hour. In that case, Christian Care employees would get a raise of 75 cents in 2019 and 85 in 2020.

Here are other provisions of the new contract, which its members voted to approve Wednesday and runs through Feb. 29, 2020, according to the union: Christian Care Home must pay the increase in health insurance rates for this year and for half of any increase to insurance rates for 2019 and 2020; payouts of unfair labor practice and grievance settlements must be made within 10 days; seniority must be followed when employees return to work, with striking workers returning to their original status and shift, as feasible.

Their median wage was $9.65 an hour. Employees said the strike was prompted by company decisions that included canceling or not allowing workers to take vacations, and violating terms of the current contract in how it switched employees' hours and days off.

Lenny Jones, the union's Missouri director, commended the resilience of strikers, who largely were black women. Those on strike aligned themselves with the Poor People's Campaign, a revival of the movement started 50 years ago by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shortly before he was assassinated.

The Missouri secretary of state's office lists the nursing home's owner as the Christian Women's Benevolent Association. A woman who answered the phone there Thursday said it had no comment.

A news release issued by the union about the new contract included statements of support from Democratic state Reps. Bruce Franks Jr. and Cora Faith Walker, who sided with the striking workers.

Negotiations for a new contract started in July. The union filed the unfair labor practice charges in late November, including that the company was not providing the union with information it needed to bargain and on grievances.

Striking workers are set to return to work Monday.

Brenda Jones, a restorative aide at the nursing home and union steward, said she and the other workers are grateful for the support of the union and others, and are eager to return to work and get back to caring for the residents.

"I'm looking for our residents to be happy," she said. "Most of our residents were union members and understood our struggle."

This story was updated at 1:38 p.m. Thursday to include comments by Brenda Jones.

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