Earlier this week, it was announced that a strike a nurses union and a health care provider have come to an agreement, but not all facilities, including two from Schuylkill County, are on board.
Workers at several Guardian-owned nursing homes in Pennsylvania ending unfair labor practice strike plans at those facilities.“We’ve long said that building a long term care system that works for residents, families, workers and the industry would need to be a collaborative effort,” said Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “With this agreement, Guardian has set an important precedent for other nursing home chains in PA and we hope others will follow their lead. We are excited to build a deeper labor and management partnership which has been codified in these new agreements covering over 1,200 nursing home workers across 18 facilities.”
This agreement does not include two facilities in the county, The Meadows at York Terrace in Pottsville, owned by Priority Healthcare and Shenandoah Heights Healthcare.
These two facilities are still scheduled to begin a strike on Friday, September 2nd, along with 12 other facilities in Pennsylvania.
“Nursing home workers are doing whatever it takes to hold these employers accountable,” said Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “Workers came together with legislators, the Governor and the nursing home industry associations earlier this year to secure this investment into staffing and care to get a handle on the crisis and begin the reform we need. As the largest healthcare workers union in the state, we expect those funds to be used as intended, and know our communities and legislators expect the same.”