With a strike by unionized nursing home workers looming Friday and talks with the industry frozen, Gov. Ned Lamont is offering funds intended to help break the impasse.
Pending lawmakers' approval, Lamont would add $280 million in subsidies over two years, allowing for higher wages for workers and a healthier balance sheet for nursing home owners.
"We've got an aggressive proposal on the table," says Lamont, "because there's nothing more important than taking care of our seniors, and I hope to God the nurses are there to do it."
As the governor's office tries to fend off a strike, it's also preparing for one. "Commissioner Deidre Gifford (of the Department of Public Health) and our emergency management team with (Emergency Services) Commissioner (James) Rovella as well as the National Guard," says Chief of Staff Paul Mounds, "are also having to prepare if a strike does occur on Friday."
Jesse Martin, SEIU 1199 New England's Vice President for nursing homes, says that 16 of the workers he represents have died of COVID-19, and that those who remain are demanding living wages and better work conditions.
"Nursing home workers need to be recognized for their sacrifices," says Martin. "They need to be put in a position where they live a life outside of poverty, that the residents they care for are directly impacted by the quality of job that the caregivers have and how the caregivers are treated."
The union says the industry has failed front-line workers during the pandemic, as COVID-19 devastated the state's nursing homes. The industry, represented by the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, cites the pandemic for its financial troubles.