{"id":80760,"date":"2018-08-08T21:14:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T01:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=80760"},"modified":"2018-08-08T21:14:42","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T01:14:42","slug":"healthcare-workers-at-five-pennsylvania-nursing-homes-reach-new-agreement-with-saber-healthcare-group-after-months-of-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=80760","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare Workers at Five Pennsylvania Nursing Homes Reach New Agreement with Saber Healthcare Group After Months of Negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Pennsylvania- Members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania at Slate Belt, Spruce Manor, Mountain City, Broad Mountain, and Langhorne Gardens Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Centers ratified new three-year union contracts with Saber Healthcare Group by overwhelming majorities this afternoon.<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The new agreements secure wage increases, restores employee pensions, and retains the union\u2019s Training and Education Fund\u2014a joint labor management program that provides workers with skills enhancement and other educational opportunities.<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em><strong>\u201cAfter several months of negotiations and informational pickets held in early June, my coworkers and I are pleased to have reached a fair contract with management this afternoon,\u201d said Lacey Bellows of Spruce Manor Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Center. \u201cIn order to provide the excellent care that our residents deserve, we need to reduce turnover and increase our ability to recruit and retain qualified caregivers. This contract is a step in the right direction.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Earlier this year, Ohio-based Saber Healthcare Group purchased Slate Belt, Spruce Manor, Mountain City, Broad Mountain, and Langhorne Gardens Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Centers from Oak Health LLC. At the time of purchase, Saber Healthcare Group refused to accept the workers\u2019 union contracts and instead implemented more than 40 terms and conditions at each facility, including a refusal to participate in the union\u2019s healthcare plan, wage freezes, and the elimination of seniority, vacation, and holidays.<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em><strong>\u201cIn order to provide quality care, caregivers must be respected,\u201d said Cara Setzer of Slate Belt Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Center. \u201cOur ability to reach a fair contract with Saber Healthcare Group will not only positively impact patient care, but will help in bolstering caregiver retention and morale as well.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Following the five facilities\u2019 pickets, Saber agreed to restore many of the standards that healthcare workers had obtained under previous ownership in the past. Under the new contract, healthcare workers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Secured wage increases of $1.20 over the life of the contract at all five facilities<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Regained the union\u2019s Training and Education Fund which allows healthcare workers to improve their education and enhance their skill sets<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Regained their pension at the same level as under previous ownership<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Restored benefit time that was lost and holidays that were taken away at the time of purchase<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Saber Healthcare Group currently owns 111 long-term care facilities, including 19 nursing homes and personal care facilities in eastern Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the largest union of nurses and other health care workers in the Commonwealth, representing 45,000 health care professionals in hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies, and other health care providers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"adL\"><\/div>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\nJenn Wood<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner3023'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/' target=\"_blank\" data-id='3023' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner7036'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com' target=\"_blank\" data-id='7036' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?post_type=adverts_posts&p=7036\" class=\"read-more\">Click here to read more... <\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80761,"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-80760","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\/2018\/08\/SEIU-Healthcare.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80760"}],"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=80760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}