SEIU postpones strike at nursing homes
Employees at eight Valley West nursing homes, including two in the area, have postponed a three-day strike that was scheduled to begin today.
On Friday, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Pennsylvania withdrew notice of the strike, saying negotiators were heading back to the bargaining table.
Workers had overwhelmingly voted in favor of sending notice of a strike alleging unfair labor practices.
Eight facilities, including homes in Uniontown and Waynesburg, had been set to strike. Informational pickets planned at two more facilities Thursday were also postponed. The union represents about 750 workers at the nursing homes.
At a press conference last week, SEIU administrators and nursing home employees had criticized Valley West for not coming to the bargaining table, as well as cost-cutting at its facilities.
“This has always been about calling on Valley West to negotiate in good faith so we can improve the quality of care and staffing that residents deserve,”Janet Williams, a certified nursing assistant at Uniontown Nursing and Rehabilitation for 35 years and a union Bargaining Committee member, said in a statement Friday. “Workers have been extremely clear that we are willing to come to the table any time, any day, and all day. We remain committed to negotiate in good faith with Valley West, and we expect them to do the same on October 16. Anything but that will send us a clear message.”
In a notice of the withdrawal sent to administrators, SEIU President Matthew Yarnell said he reserved the right to send a notice of a strike or informational pickets in the future.
In a response Friday, Valley West said SEIU’s publicity campaigns in advance of a strike had caused both reputational and financial harm.
“Money that could have gone back to residents and staff was diverted into a political performance,” the company said in a statement. “We intend to fight to recover those damages and give them back to the patients, because this wasn’t advocacy — it was theater at the expense of the very people they claim to represent and the vulnerable patients.”