Elderwood Workers join one-day strike
Jul. 14—Chants and noisemakers could be heard on Old Niagara Road Wednesday as health care workers at Elderwood at Lockport picketed outside their facility as a part of a one-day strike. The workers represented by the union 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East have gone on one-day strikes over the last two days along with nine other locations throughout the Western New York area.
The strikers are asking for a $15 minimum wage for service workers, higher starting rates for new employees and standard wage scales-based on experience. Their original contract expired in January, and no new one has been able to be settled since negotiation began last October.
Elderwood at Lockport is one of four locations owned by the McGuire Group that are participating in strikes organized by 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. The others are Elderwood of Williamsville, Garden Gate Health Care in Cheektowaga, and North Gate Health Care in North Tonawanda. Three of the original 12 locations that were to go on strike have had their demands met. These include Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, and the Newfane Rehab Center. Other striking locations are Autumn View Health Care in Hamburg, Fiddler's Green Manor in Springville, Gowanda Rehab, Humboldt House in Buffalo, and Seneca Health Care in West Seneca.
April Stonebraker, a nurse and Union Delegate at Elderwood at Lockport, said that staff is low, and family members of residents are complaining due to the inefficient quality of care. She said that management acted indifferent about the possibility of a strike when negotiations broke down.
"They gave us some put-downs that we're only hurting our co-workers and the residents by doing this strike, but the fact is that we don't have staff any day." she said. "We're out here, fighting for these wages, so that we can get staff."
Grace Bogdanove, vice-president of the Western New York Nursing Home Division of the union, said that these health care workers struggled through the entirety of the Covid pandemic to do their jobs, and should deserve living wages.
"For years before this they've struggled with short staffing, and ownership changes," Bogdanove said. "These workers deserve more."
Bogdanove said that because they are still care workers, the union decided to do a one-day strike in hopes that their demands could be reached without residents at the facility being harmed as a result.
"It's really about doing as little harm as possible, especially when it comes to these residents that workers care so much about," Bogdanove said. "If we're able to get our message across with a one-day strike, and not have to go to the extreme lengths of an indefinite strike that could last for weeks or months, we're going to do that."
She did emphasize though that the union is prepared to go on a full strike if their demands continue to go unmet.
