New analysis of US Department of Labor data shows that large unions such as the SEIU were able to leverage heightened labor activity to recruit new workers in 2023.
In a year characterized by headline-grabbing strikes across multiple industries, the long-term care sector has not been without its share of labor activity — such as recent strikes organized by the SEIU to demand higher wages.
With so many providers’ staffing and funding woes poised to remain at the forefront of sector concerns, some experts suggest that unions may be able to gain even more momentum in the months and years ahead.
It wasn’t all good news for labor, though. Some unions lost members and the percentage of workers in union jobs nationally ticked down slightly to 10%. Nursing home workers are somewhat more likely to be unionized, but still only 16% of facilities’ workers were represented by a union in 2023.
The future for organized labor in long-term care continues to be uncertain, close observers say. Action is often scattered and on a relatively small scale. For example, a series of coordinated one-day strikes last month in Minnesota noted to be historically large by union organizers affected 12 facilities.
But certain factors have led some experts to cautiously predict increased labor activity in the future. For one, the heightened level of labor activity over the past few years has raised awareness of unions and has served as better recruitment advertising for them.
Looking at 2024 and beyond, pay and staffing are two primary issues that will continue to drive labor activity, said Adam Dean, PhD, associate professor of political science at The George Washington University.
More than 300 SEIU-represented workers at three upstate New York nursing homes are expected to set up informational pickets Wednesday (April 10) ahead of contract negotiations later this month. The workers have cited exactly these two issues as their primary concerns.
“We are constantly understaffed and overworked,” explained Karly Beaujean, a licensed practical nurse at Absolut Care nursing home in Westfield, NY. “We are constantly burned out. When new staff come in, they end up leaving. If we were able to offer the same or better wages like other nursing homes in our area, then hopefully new workers would stay and help us give the residents the care they deserve.”
Providers often note that the actions they’d like to take to address these concerns are held back by the limited funding they receive through reimbursements.
Experts also have noted that unions are increasingly organizing on behalf of nursing home support staff as well as frontline care workers, drawing more workers overall into organized action.
The looming federal staffing mandate and the push for higher state reimbursement rates across the country ensure that union activity will remain energized. Even as signs of union growth have been somewhat mixed, the new membership data from the Department of Labor confirms that many of the most influential labor units have been able to sustain momentum well into 2024 — something providers will be monitoring in the months to come.
