Nursing-home workers strike, no talks set
Legislators feel betrayed that COVID relief, negotiated rate increase weren’t passed on to staff
Union workers strike outside an Infinity nursing home this week in Bloomingdale. (Facebook)
By Ted Cox
Almost 700 union workers are on strike at 11 Infinity nursing homes across the northern part of the state, with no talks scheduled as the walkout extends through its second day.
The workers are seeking hazard pay and personal protective equipment in the pandemic, as well as adequate staffing and a $15-an-hour wage, according to Erica Bland-Durosinmi, a leader with the Service Employees International Union’s Healthcare Illinois and Indiana. They’ve been without a contract since the last pact expired in late May.
State legislators who joined striking working on the picket lines Monday as the strike began took part in a virtual news conference Tuesday. Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago said she’d been outside an Infinity nursing home that had a sign reading, “Thank you staff, you make it all possible,” but now ironically “with a picket line in front of it.”
“These workers are taking care of our loved ones,” said Rep. Lakesia Collins of Chicago, a former nursing-home worker herself. She said the workers treat residents “like family,” devoted to their care, but that the average Infinity worker makes $13.59 an hour, with some staff making less than $13.
“We feel the ‘fatigue’ of this virus,” said Sen. Ram Villivalam of Chicago, adding that he couldn’t imagine how a worker feels eight months into the pandemic. But SEIU pointed out that two of the 11 Infinity facilities lead the state in critical COVID-19 categories for nursing homes, with City View Multi-Care Center having the state’s highest number of infections and Niles Nursing & Rehab Center having the highest number of deaths.
“This is about making sure your workers and residents are safe,” Cassidy added.
“If you don’t take care of the workers who take care of the residents, you don’t care about the residents,” said Shaba Andrich, an SEIU organizer.
Calling it “a moral issue,” Villivalam said Infinity isn’t paying its workers a “living wage,” with the result that many draw additionally on public assistance.
According to the union, Infinity received $12.7 million in COVID relief under the CARES Act, and Cassidy said a rate increase negotiated between the nursing-home industry and the General Assembly had earmarked $70 million for staffing, with an estimated $11 million of that going to Infinity — and it clearly wasn’t passed on. She called Infinity “bad-faith negotiators,” adding, “It seems like their favorite word is ‘more,’ and it’s never more for their workers.”
According to Andrich, Infinity owner Moishe Gubin “has refused to make a move,” and no talks are currently scheduled, although a federal mediator is involved. “We are waiting for him to come back with something different,” Andrich added, stating that wages under the pandemic were the same as in 2018.
Infinity staffer Jacquevella Abulebdeh said ownership had offered “scraps” in talks, with the attitude “you take it and be happy with it.”
“This is part of holding those owners accountable,” Cassidy said.
Collins said that, as devoted as workers are to the residents, they’re on strike “because you want to change the structure of how these nursing homes operate.”
“Here’s the bottom line,” Villivalam said. “We need to get an agreement. The owner needs to come to the table. … We need to get this done now.”
Bland-Durosinmi insisted, “Our members are going to be out there on the strike line until we resolve something.”