Workers at Redford Township nursing home go on strike, demand contract, higher pay
Workers at a Wayne County nursing home went on strike Tuesday, demanding a contract and higher wages.
About 60 employees at the Orchards at Redford in Redford Township walked off the job early Tuesday. They are expected to be on strike until a contract is reached, and on the strike line from 6 a.m.-3 p.m. daily, said Kevin Lignell, communications coordinator for SEIU Healthcare Michigan, the union that represents the workers.
Video on the union's Facebook page shows a man with a megaphone yelling: "What do we want?" A group of workers yells: "Contract!" The man yells: "When do we want it?" "Now!" the group replies. Some workers walked on the sidewalk; others held signs stating: "We are heroes. Don't treat us like zeroes."
Lignell said the union represents certified nursing assistants, nursing assistants, and dietary and laundry workers.
Nursing home has about 45 residents
A woman at the nursing home, who declined to provide her name or title, said: "We don't have a comment right now." When asked how staffing was going, she said: "It's going well."
The facility provides post-acute care, long-term care, assisted living, Alzheimer's/memory care and outpatient physical therapy, according to its website.
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Lignell said workers who did not strike, managers and perhaps outside agency temps are caring for residents during the strike. The striking workers care for about 45 residents in the nursing home, he said.
The union said in a release that workers planned to strike because negotiations dragged on for months with little progress. Negotiations went until about midnight Monday without movement, Lignell said, adding the union will extend its willingness to negotiate.
He said there have been several offers the last few days, but the facility isn't "budging on anything. They are one of the lowest-paying nursing homes in this area."
What management proposes versus what workers want
Kim Ford, a certified nursing assistant at the facility for nine years, said her biggest concerns are settling the contract as they've "been at the table a whole year," but are getting nothing out of the negotiations.
"They're not respecting us," she said, adding pay and keeping residents safe through proper staffing levels are concerns.
Ford said dietary workers are coming in at $11 an hour, resident assistants at $12 an hour, with CNAs at $14 to $15 an hour. She said the facility proposed from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour more over a three-year period.
The union said the workers basically need double that proposed raise per hour. She said the union is trying get $20 per hour for CNAs and $16 to $17 per hour for those in dietary and resident assistants, bringing pay closer to other facilities in metro Detroit.
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Ford, who has been a CNA for 14 years, said the facility is trying to fill positions, but it is "not paying respectable wages ... so we can't keep staff." She said it's getting harder to afford working at the facility, but she said she loves the residents she cares for and her co-workers.
"We're doing this fight for the residents. They are first," Ford said.
SEIU Healthcare Michigan said in its release that more than 1,000 nursing home workers from 13 facilities owned by Ciena, Amee Patel, Orchard, Optalis and Pioneer announced escalation of contract campaigns to demand living wages, affordable health care and safe staffing Feb. 16. Of the original 13 nursing homes, the Orchards at Redford is one of two that still need to reach a union contract agreement, according to the release.
The union said more than 600 workers from nine nursing homes owned by Ciena and Pioneer secured contracts with significant wage increases and more affordable health insurance. While there have been gains, it said, the Orchards has not offered wages “on par with other nursing homes that won contracts.”
Almost a year ago, SKLD Bloomfield Hills nursing home workers went on a one-day strike alleging unfair labor practices. They later voted to unionize and become members of SEIU Healthcare Michigan.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Workers at Orchards at Redford nursing home go on strike
