Lockport, N.Y. (WBEN) - Nursing home workers at six Niagara and Erie County facilities are holding informational pickets this month, demanding action on staffing shortages and stalled contract talks.
The first picket was held outside of Elderwood in Lockport Monday afternoon.
Shameka Burnette-Mathews, an administrative organizer with 1199SEIU, the union representing the caregivers, explains conditions need to radically improve need to improve significantly in order to attract and retain more staff.
"We are currently in contract negotiations with 27 different employers spread across four different counties representing 4000 of our healthcare workers. We are starting with our first job action at elder wood of Lockport, based on the employer implementing a last best and final that the members did not agree to. We are here with the members standing strong, asking for an increase in wages, quality health insurance in hopes to recruit and retain more job more employees to take care of the residents in this facility," stated Burnette-Mathews.
Union contracts that cover a majority of Western New York's nursing homes are set to expire on April 30th, however, most negotiations began in late February. Of the facilities involved, 24 are for-profit and 3 are not-for-profit.
Union Vice President in Western New York, Grace Bogdanove , says a minimum staffing bill was passed in 2021 to help address the decline in employees, however, most facilities in the region can't meet the standard.
"Elderwood has bargained in bad faith by implementing sub-par wages and benefits without a mutual agreement with workers and refusing to come to the table to engage in contract talks,” stated Bogdanove. “Until just this week, the McGuire group was also refusing to bargain, further delaying much-needed wage and benefit increases that would provide for the recruitment and retention necessary to adequately staff these 4 homes."
Cindy a daughter of one of the residents says she has seen the quality of care drastically decline in recent years.
"When she came here, she walked with the walker. She's now in a wheelchair and now almost bed ridden because she's got bed sores, because they don't have the staff to change her when she needs to be changed. The work is not getting done in a timely fashion. You can have care plan after care plan, and it's on there for her to be changed every two hours. She goes four hours and she's dripping wet," stated Cindy.