ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Some 300 nursing home workers here, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, went on a three-day strike April 20-22 at five Monarch Healthcare Management facilities in the Twin Cities area.
The action included a rally April 21 at the state Capitol in St. Paul. They’re demanding higher pay, improved benefits and higher staffing levels to provide better care for the patients.
This Militant worker-correspondent joined the picket line at the Estates of Roseville and Yona nursing home April 22. “They offered us a 2% yearly pay raise,” said Kylie Chang, a culinary aid who has worked here for three years. “Workers at some other nursing homes accepted this with a different collective bargaining contract, but we said no. And we were willing to go on strike for what we needed.”
Workers said management only gives them two uniforms a year, which is far from enough if you’re a full-time worker. “They talk rudely and sometimes threaten workers. We want more respect,” Chang said.
Yankuba Fadera, Service Employees International Union’s lead organizer for nursing home workers’ bargaining teams, told Minnesota Public Radio News that a key issue for employees at each facility is addressing staffing shortages. “They are left working by themselves, and the workload is definitely too much,” Fadera said. “Each of these nursing homes has its own pool of temporary workers who are paid way more than regular staff. So that doesn’t sit well with their permanent employees.”
Workers told us that they got support not only from the community, but from patients’ relatives. They were glad to see the workers fighting for more staff.
To send solidarity, write to SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, 345 Randolph Ave., Suite 100, St. Paul. MN 55102. Email: mac@seiuhcmn.org.