Union, Brighton Rehab reach agreement

Apr. 3--BRIGHTON TWP. -- Beaver County's largest nursing home and the union that represents about 300 of its workers are finalizing an agreement that will provide hazard pay and other protections as the facility deals with at least 38 cases of COVID-19.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement with Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, the former county-owned Friendship Ridge nursing home.

The union approached administration at the facility with a list of demands to tighten their regulations amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the facility. As of Thursday, the facility is treating 38 patients who have tested positive. Three others have died, while the union reports six employees have tested positive.

"I think it is great we've made progress," said Shania Taylor, a certified nursing assistant at the facility who is currently waiting for her COVID-19 test result.

"It brings a little peace of mind to all of us. Workers are scared of catching this virus and passing it along to our residents. Now we are going to hold management accountable to working transparently with us to give us what we need to do our jobs, and keep everyone safe, and problem solve together in our fight against this pandemic."

Late Wednesday, officials with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania said administrators at Brighton Rehab had agreed to tighten their regulations to meet a series of requests the union made earlier in the day.

In a statement Thursday, leadership at Brighton Rehab acknowledged that they added a "much needed agreement with our labor union partner."

"As we continue to navigate this crisis together, note that more than a week ago Brighton had successfully acquired all CDC recommended (personal protection equipment) and had a strong treatment program in place for residents," facility officials said.

The agreement with management includes:

--N95 masks for every worker on the quarantined unit.

--Face masks and gowns for direct-care workers on other units.

--Proper PPE for all employees and N95 masks for workers who are immunocompromised or request them for personal health reasons.

--Testing for all employees, completed onsite, with 24-hour results.

--Residents who test positive must be isolated.

--No retaliation against workers who have spoken out publicly.

--Appoint high-level leadership point person on the ground to work directly with local union leaders inside the building to ensure transparency and communication.

--Work together to use federal stimulus money to pay for workers' time who were out for COVID-related issues, so they are not forced to use their own sick days or vacation time.

Union officials said they are still working with administrators to finalize the details of hazard pay for every worker.

Brighton officials say they appreciate the hard work of all of its employees in caring for the facility's more than 460 patients.

"We cannot fully express our residents' appreciation and respect for those who are working hard day-in and day-out at this unprecedented time," officials said in a release.

"We do hope that a big thank you and Brighton's agreement with all union requests will help us to move forward in unity as we all do our part to care for our residents in need."

State union leadership said the issues with PPE in particular can be traced to the federal government.

"We should not have gotten to this point, and it will be a challenge to get the PPE, but we are committed to keeping everyone at Brighton safe," said SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania President Matthew Yarnell.

"We have been failed in this moment by the Trump administration's slow response and lack of action. This is a clear example of why President Trump must enact the Defense Production Act of 1950 to repurpose manufacturing in the U.S. to produce N95 masks, gowns, gloves, other PPE and ventilators. We're already way behind where we should be, and that's inexcusable. But we need to meet this moment where we are."

Brighton officials said their facility is one of just a handful in the state that has equipment that is able to sterilize N95 masks. Yarnell said while that is not the ideal situation, he and other union officials understand the constraints the medical field is under for obtaining the specialized equipment.

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