Our Lady of Peace nursing home workers are facing repercussions for going on strike earlier this month.
1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East, the union representing more than 150 workers at the Lewiston nursing home, said Tuesday that several employees received disciplinary notices for participating in its March 9 strike. Workers, who’ve been with a contract since Dec. 31, held the one-day protest amid demands for higher wages.
“I was actually offended when management was giving us a hard time for participating in the one-day strike,” said certified nursing assistant Nina Calandrelli in a statement provided by 1199 SEIU. “They thought that we wouldn’t participate in the strike, they thought that we wouldn’t stand up for ourselves even though we were new. If you need me so bad, why would you write me up for participating in a legal strike and standing up for myself?”
Our Lady of Peace’s St. Louis-based owner, Ascension Living, reportedly disciplined newly hired workers who are still on probation. But 1199 SEIU argues probationary workers have a legal right to strike under federal labor law, too. It has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Ascension Health of violating workers’ rights.
Ascension Living, which is a subsidiary of Ascension Health, the largest tax empty health system in the country, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday, but it has previously said it was “disappointed” with the strike.
This isn’t the first time 1199 SEIU and Ascension Living have clashed over labor law. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the health system earlier this month after it threatened a five-day lockout in response to the one-day strike. Ascension Living then withdrew the threat.
1199 SEIU is demanding its Our Lady of Peace members be paid what it considersthe new standard for Western New York nursing homes wages. That includes a $16.50 minimum wage for CNAs and $24 minimum wage for licensed practical nurses.
The union argues the lackluster pay is hurting the facility’s ability to retain and recruit staff, and therefore accept more residents. Our Lady of Peace is operating at just 48% occupancy, far below the state average of 83%, and has shut down three of its units since November 2020. Its staffing levels are rated below average by the federal government.
The strike at Our Lady of Peace was something of a rarity. 1199 SEIU, which is the largest health care union in the country, said the strike was its first at a Western New York nursing home since 2005.
But Western New York is no stranger to health care strikes.
Last year’s strike at Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo lasted 35 days before Catholic Health and Communications Workers of America came to a four-year contract agreement. The Mercy Hospital strike has raised the stakes as Kaleida Health and its workers, represented by both CWA and 1199 SEIU, begin bargaining this month.
Strikes are on the rise throughout the country. A Cornell University report found there were 265 strikes involving approximately 140,000 workers last year, including a large uptick in strikes in October and November. More than half of striking U.S. workers last year were in health care.
Ascension Living and 1199 SEIU head back to the bargaining table on Monday.
