Service workers at the Jewish Home have scheduled a one-day strike for Monday, Nov. 22, and management said it doesn’t expect to negotiate before that time.
“Essentially, they’ve refused to bargain further,” said Glenn Goldstein, director of organizing for Local 250 of SEIU, the service workers’ union representing the Home’s hundreds of certified nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, cooks, dietary workers, housekeepers and others.
“We proposed to them no cuts in health insurance and modest wage increases over the next three years to keep up with the incredibly high cost of living here. They got back to us and told us no, they were implementing their last proposal,” Goldstein said.
Daniel Ruth, the Jewish Home’s president and CEO, verified that the Home had implemented its latest plan, which had been voted down by union members. But, he noted, that plan had been crafted by union leadership “who shook our hands, thanked us and hugged members of the Home’s management negotiation committee. And their membership voted it down.”
At issue is whether union employees will be required to begin paying for their health care coverage, among other concerns.
Ruth characterized the Jewish Home as “an excellent employer … with employees continuing to be paid at the high end of the wage spectrum. And we are asking them to make a modest contribution to their heath insurance.”
Ruth Segarra, a licensed vocational nurse at the residence for the past 23 years, said the Home’s health benefits are one of the major upsides of the job.
“The reason workers stay at the Jewish Home is because of the 100 percent health insurance. And now, through negotiations we are trying to get that back. But it’s hard,” she said.
“We see the past two years they are laying off people, cutting certain things. And that is really sad to see staff being cut, because staff is important,” Segarra said. “We are the backbone of the Jewish Home. We have great department heads and supervisors, but the main people, the labor people, the people who work hands-on, they are the ones who make this place one of the best in the country. If I was Jewish, this is the place I’d like to grow old in, personally.”
Ruth stressed that the Jewish Home values its employees, but noted that “when 72 percent or so of your costs are tied up in wages or benefits, one cannot ignore them in trying to readjust the economics of the home to ameliorate its deficit situation.”
Going out on strike, Segarra noted, was not an easy decision.
“Yes, it is painful. I think about the residents. They are like family to us. A lot of the staff, they treat them like parents or grandparents,” she said.
Ruth agreed a work stoppage would be painful.
“We were very disappointed that, for whatever reason, the [union] membership voted down their leadership’s proposal,” he said. “I can say with all sincerity that the Jewish Home management team has bargained in good faith.”