Workers on strike at the facility include certified nursing assistants (CNA), licensed practical nurses (LPN), maintenance, laundry and dietary workers, personal care attendants, housekeepers, pharmacy technicians, and bus drivers.

“About 117 of us turned out for the first day of picketing” June 1, said striker Linda Nakutis. The previous week workers had rejected the company’s contract offer 85-6. “They offered us a 10-cent raise the first year and 15 cents for the next two years,” Nakutis said.

Company goons who guard the facility have attacked protesters, union members said.

“We were marching in a circle and a truck was trying to leave, we were taking our time marching, when all of a sudden the guards charged at us and roughed some of us up pretty bad,” said SEIU vice president Gladys Sampson. She described how one of these company goons elbowed her in the chest. “One woman was dragged on the street and scratched her knees all up. An official from 1199 had several ribs broken.”

Following the spirited rally, the company filed for and won an injunction against strikers and their supporters. Washington County judge Paul Pozonsky sided with the company in his ruling, limiting pickets to a total of 20, with no more than five permitted at each entrance. The ruling also reduces the parking area for strikers to 10 cars and strips them of their bullhorn.

Despite the restrictions, the 24-hour picket line remains strong and upbeat. Picket duty is four hours, but some workers stay all day, strikers said. SEIU members have set up a picket tarp with a grill, and each picket spot has coolers packed with drinks and snacks. Strikers report they get six free pizzas a day from Joe’s, a nearby restaurant.

Many workers at the medical center make under $8 an hour. Kathleen Plymire, a 22-year old dietary worker with four months on the job, has a starting wage of $7.37. As a part-time worker she gets no medical benefits, though she often works 30 hours a week. “I think the company should consider everybody full time, with full-time benefits,” Plymire said.

Nancy Swaggard, who works part-time as an activity aide is paid $7.94 per hour, and pays $186 every two weeks for healthcare.

Judy Briggs, who wore a bright, hand-printed, pro-strike T-shirt, explained that a number of workers pick up two or three days of overtime every two weeks to cover healthcare costs. “It costs $198 every two weeks for a spouse,” she said.

Nursing home workers are often pressured to work overtime, due to poor staffing levels. “Three CNA’s work with 54 patients,” Briggs said. “We are for a ratio more like eight patients per person. Not 12, 13, and 15.” Federal law requires each patient to get a minimum of 2.7 hours of care daily. Strikers point out that this minimum time is way too low. “Patients only get the minimum requirements: one bath a week!” exclaimed housekeeper Maureen Harris, pointing to the effects of a shorthanded workforce. “The number of people working together on a shift makes a big difference in the level of care we can give.”

“The ratio is definitely the main issue,” commented SEIU local 1199P president Joyce Nichols. “And they would like to institute forced overtime. People pay $6,000 a month for a semi-private room to send their relatives here. They should get the best care we can provide.”

The union is pushing for a $10 across-the-board minimum wage for all workers at Presbyterian Senior Care with a 75-cent increase each year of a three-year contract. Workers also demand an end to forced overtime.

Union members noted that the company claims to have had a $400,000 shortfall last year. But this hasn’t stopped the bosses from redecorating all floors and carrying out other renovations, workers added. The company has a number of subsidiary profit-making businesses, such as condo and retirement home rentals, catering, laundry, and a bus service. The company uses medical center personnel to provide these services.

The company has maintained some level of operation through a combination of scabs brought in from their nonunion Oakmont facility and the doctors and unorganized nurses on staff.

“We’ve kept things going and plan to continue to do so,” boasted Senior Care spokesperson Earl Bugaile.

Families of residents tell a different story. “The newspapers say everything is going well,” said Rebecca Simpson, who says she has been visiting the facility daily for nearly nine years. “It’s not. The place was a disaster on Monday and Tuesday. I called the health department on them. Some people aren’t getting baths and some are not being gotten out of bed.” This could prove fatal for some patients, she added. “I support the strike 100 percent.”

Commenting about staffing levels and the 2.7-hour minimum time of care per patient, Simpson said, “You can’t lift a 230-pound person in and out of bed several times a day and give them all the care they need in 2.7 hours. The company is looking to cut costs and save money and you can’t do that when caring for the sick and elderly.”  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home