Expands to include activities, dietary, housekeeping, and laundry

When nursing home workers organize and use their voices to advocate, they can influence the decisions of our elected officials and policymakers!

We are excited to announce that the nursing home wage pass-through will be expanded to include activities, dietary, laundry, housekeeping, and other workers. Meanwhile, CNAs, respiratory therapists, and LPNs will get an increase in the hourly amount they already receive.

“This victory is proof that all nursing home workers are essential, no matter our job title or classification. We all play a crucial role in the care we provide to our residents. Just as importantly, it’s our hard work and advocacy that made this possible. Together in our Union, many of us attended lobby day to meet with legislators directly, and even more made thousands of calls over the past few months. We used our voices to demand the investments that nursing home workers truly need and deserve!” said DeAngelis Council, a laundry worker at Lahser Hills.

This victory will set a new standard in our industry for years to come. This is not the end, rather this is just the beginning of getting the respect that we deserve for the hard work that we do every day. Union workers are gaining power both in the workplace and our voice is being heard by our elected leaders. We must continue to advocate for changes that will raise wages, improve working conditions, and build safe staffing standards in every nursing home.

The work is not yet over. We are pushing for even more classifications and a higher hourly increase in the supplemental budget. The supplemental budget includes additional funds that were not spent on this budget process. While this is a huge victory, it’s important that we continue to advocate for the support our workers so desperately need and deserve.

Here’s what we can do to further the wage pass-through:

• Continue to participate in our advocacy actions including calling, emailing, attending coffee hours, and directly lobbying our elected leaders in the state government. Keeping this drumbeat going is the best way to get additional funding in the supplemental budget. We will keep you updated about the next actions in which members can participate.
• Spread the word about this victory to your coworkers and encourage them to sign Union cards to make our Union stronger! The more voices we have, the stronger we are and the more we can achieve.
• Make a monthly donation to our COPE fund which supports political advocacy. You can make a donation to COPE here.