Nursing home workers at the 142-bed Comprehensive Rehabilitation & Nursing Center at Williamsville in Williamsville, NY, are planning to picket Friday to protest what they call chronic understaffing and low wages, among other issues.
Union action isn’t the only trouble for the owners of the for-profit facility. Some also have been dogged by allegations of $18 million in Medicaid fraud in relation to another 120-bed facility they own in northwestern New York. In December, Ephram “Mordy” Lahasky and other owners of The Villages were sued by the state Attorney General for alleged misuse of the government funds while understaffing and neglecting residents, as McKnight’s Long-Term Care News has previously reported.
Staff members at the Williamsville facility meanwhile are asking for better working conditions, competitive wages and a pension, which they said will help to retain and recruit more much-needed staff, according to their union, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Forty-two workers plan to picket.
“Short-staffing affects the quality of care,” Ivan Tidwell, LPN, said in a statement. “We don’t have enough staff to cover the shifts and the residents might suffer because their care is delayed. We need more in-house worker s to help to take care of our residents and to do that we need a fair contract.”
The workers’ three-year contract expired in December.
The union is willing to escalate its campaign “until [the employers] do what’s right, even if it means having to strike to get what workers deserve and to protect care for residents,” Grace Bogdanove, 1199SEIU vice president, told McKnight’s in an emailed statement.
“This employer hasn’t listened to workers – even with the notice for the informational picket. It’s obvious by the employer’s lack of movement at the bargaining table,” she said.
The Williamsville workers join a steady uptick in union action related to staff shortage concerns in long-term care facilities. Activities have notably picked up during the pandemic and many have been successful, with nursing home staff members winning concessions from various providers.
The challenges of providing care to residents during the pandemic combined with low pay and increased workload “compelled many to look for other jobs,” said Todd Hobler, executive vice president of the union’s Upstate WNY division, in an emailed statement. Insufficient staffing, already an issue before the pandemic, has become worse, he said.
“The nursing home workers who remain are committed to their work and determined to stand up for themselves and their residents,” and deserve better, Hobler said. Along with a contract, the city of Albany could help by raising Medicaid rates for local nursing homes. Rates “have not been increased in years and are the lowest of any region in the state,” he added.
Williamsville facility administrators did not respond to McKnight’s calls for comment by press time.
