{"id":115845,"date":"2023-02-01T22:35:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T03:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115845"},"modified":"2023-02-01T22:35:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T03:35:48","slug":"hundreds-of-nursing-home-workers-at-eight-saber-homes-win-strong-union-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115845","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Nursing Home Workers at Eight Saber Homes Win Strong Union Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><em><strong>The nearly 500 workers join a recent wave of nursing home workers winning contracts with industry-changing standards, dramatically improved wages, and better healthcare benefits.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Pennsylvania \u2014 After months of negotiations, around 500 workers at eight different nursing homes across Pennsylvania owned by Saber Healthcare Group have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new, three-year agreement. This new contract represents a major victory in union nursing home workers\u2019 ongoing campaign to improve care in their industry.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The nursing homes covered by this contract include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Ambler Extended Care Center (Ambler)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Broad Mountain Health &amp; Rehabilitation Center (Frackville)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Bryn Mawr Extended Care Center (Bryn Mawr)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Julia Ribaudo Extended Care Center (Lake Ariel)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Langhorne Gardens Health &amp; Rehabilitation Center (Langhorne)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Mountain City Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Center (Hazle Township)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Slate Belt Health &amp; Rehabilitation (Bangor)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Spruce Manor Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation (Reading)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Driven by workers\u2019 collective strength, the new contract includes statewide wage increases and improvements to healthcare that will help retain and recruit more caregivers for residents. This will help facilities meet the new staffing ratios union caregivers demanded and won last year through updated state nursing home regulations.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI\u2019m excited to be a part of this historic contract,\u201d said Mary Lambert, a licensed practical nurse at Langhorne Gardens for five years. \u201cHealthcare has changed over the past few years, and this contract reflects that. We worked throughout the pandemic to care for our residents, and we did it without a raise. You could walk to the Wawa or Walmart and make more than a certified nursing assistant. So throughout a year\u2019s worth of back-and-forth negotiations, and a whole lot of teamwork, we stuck together for wages that will help people who have this calling be able to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In the backdrop of President Biden announcing a federal commitment to nursing home reforms last year, Saber recognized the status quo would not be enough to help address the workforce crisis and improve resident care.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Contract highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Raises of up to $3 an hour for some workers and average raises of 20% over the life of the agreement.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Improvements in healthcare, including providing all workers with union health insurance.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Wage scales and longevity bonuses that reward staff who showed up for residents throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">A contractually enforceable commitment to safe staffing.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe received the largest wage increases that I\u2019ve seen since I\u2019ve worked at my home,\u201d said Christine Peters, a certified nursing assistant who has been at Broad Mountain for 25 years. \u201cWe also got better healthcare \u2013 which healthcare workers deserve. To me, it shows that Saber is understanding what we\u2019re doing a little more, that it\u2019s not an easy job. We are caring for people\u2019s lives, and we should be able to take care of ourselves, too.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThese are people\u2019s loved ones, and they become our loved ones, too,\u201d Peters said. \u201cNow that workers at Saber-owned buildings are under one contract, we\u2019ll have more power to raise standards. Standing together, we can get more accomplished: From higher wages and better insurance, to getting the state to increase staffing ratios. It all comes back to taking care of our residents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThese workers are relentless advocates for their residents, and they worked hard for a contract that helps bring staff back to the bedside,\u201d said Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the union that represents the nursing home workers. \u201cIt\u2019s through productive negotiations like we had with Saber, where we reach a fair contract that invests in workers and residents, that we can begin to raise standards of quality care in all nursing homes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe\u2019ve now reached agreements at over 60 nursing homes across the state, often with over 20% pay increases that are vital to stabilizing this critical workforce. Our negotiations with Saber show that if employers and workers roll up their sleeves, together we can invest this historic $600 million state funding in improvements to care that benefits everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania<\/strong> is the state\u2019s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and healthcare workers, uniting tens of thousands of professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home- and community-based services, and state facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Information provided to TVL by<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #444444;\">Emily Dong (<\/span>she\/her)<br \/>\nDigital Campaigns Specialist<br \/>\nSEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The nearly 500 workers join a recent wave of nursing home workers winning contracts with industry-changing standards, dramatically improved wages, and better healthcare benefits. &nbsp; Pennsylvania \u2014 After months of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115845\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Hundreds of Nursing Home Workers at Eight Saber Homes Win Strong Union Contract<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/seiu-healthcare.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/106226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}