Hundreds of nursing home workers in Michigan are joining what they call a nationwide walkout to protest systemic racism and police brutality in the United States.
The SEIU Healthcare Michigan announced that workers from six nursing homes in Detroit will be striking on Monday as part of the national “Strike for Black Lives” Movement. The strike will include “hundreds” of workers from the Hartford Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Lodge at Taylor, Regency at Taylor, Villa at Great Lakes Crossing, Villa at City Center, and Regency at St. Claire Shores in the Detroit area.
The national “Strike for Black Lives” will be held in more than 25 cities across the country. The worker-led march will include tens of thousands of nursing home, fast food, ride-share and airport workers who will walk out of work to protest racism.
“Thousands of workers and residents have needlessly lost their lives. I’ve seen firsthand how this virus is devastating the Black community, exposing the systemic racism that has always existed,” Trece Andrews, a Michigan nursing home worker, said in a statement.
“That’s why I’m going on Strike for Black Lives: to demand greater protections for my coworkers, our residents and working people across the nation,” she added.
Andrews said that nursing home workers in Detroit are still at the center of the coronavirus crisis and have yet to receive proper personal protective equipment, paid sick days or fully paid testing.
Workers have called for additional safety precautions and benefits, a $15 minimum wage for all service workers, and an $18 minimum wage for certified nursing assistants. They’re also pushing for an end to mandatory overtime and short-staffing, according to the organization.
