Just days after dozens of local electeds back their demands, SKLD workers take action for safe staffing, quality care, an end to unfair labor practices
Following the rally, workers across industries will join elected leaders, community allies at a Unions for All Summit to discuss the future of the labor movement
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI – Amid the ongoing crisis in Michigan’s nursing home industry, workers at SKLD Bloomfield Hills will go on strike Monday, July 11 and hold a rally to demand safer staffing, a voice on the job, an end to retaliation, and greater resources to ensure quality care for every resident.
Striking workers have reported an increase in retaliation and union busting tactics from facility management since they delivered their 10-day strike notice on July 1, including intimidation, interrogation and unreasonable disciplining.
Over 30 elected officials and community leaders representing all regions of the state have voiced their support for the workers, including U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell, Rashida Tlaib and Andy Levin.
Following the rally, SKLD workers will join a convening that will bring together local and national leaders in a dynamic conversation centered around Michigan workers’ fight for a voice on the job through unions and the future of the labor movement. The Unions for All Summit will feature Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry, elected officials and worker leaders across industries.
United across jobs, backgrounds and locations, participants in this Unions For All Summit will share their experiences and demand elected leaders use every lever of power to rewrite the rules so that all workers can join a union and have a voice in shaping the decisions that impact our workplaces, communities, and democracy. Participants will also encourage all Michiganders to join the fight against corporate greed and structural racism, to build a country that works for all.
STRIKE LINE DETAILS
WHO: Striking SKLD Bloomfield Hills nursing home workers, community allies, elected officials
WHAT: Strike, rally to protest unsafe staffing, demand an end to unfair labor practices and a voice on the job through a union
WHEN: Monday, July 11, 7am ET
WHERE: 2975 N Adams Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
UNIONS FOR ALL SUMMIT DETAILS
WHO: Michigan workers including SEIU members, workers in the Fight for $15 and a Union, and non-union workers across industries; community members; elected leaders including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield and more
WHAT: Michigan Unions for All Summit
WHEN: Monday, July 11, 10am-12pm ET
WHERE: Durfee Innovation Society, 2470 Collingwood St, Detroit, MI 48206
Michigan’s Long Term Care Crisis
Michigan is the nation’s fastest-aging state, according to AARP. By 2025, there will be more Michiganders over 65 than under 18. Michigan will need to fill 178,000 direct care jobs by 2028 to meet the growing demand for care. Across the United States, ten thousand people turn 65 daily and demand for care is skyrocketing.
This industry has long been dismissed and devalued due to racism and sexism, leading to low pay and underinvestment in workers. Eight in ten nursing home workers in Michigan state are women and the majority of all nursing home workers come from Black, brown and otherwise marginalized communities. What’s more, nursing homes where residents are majority people of color have experienced devastating, outsized loss of life from Covid-19 as well as chronically poor standards of care.
A recent Health Affairs study shows that nursing homes with union workers have lower COVID-19 resident mortality rates when compared to non-union facilities. According to the study, nursing homes with unions are far safer places for workers, with worker infection rates 6.8% lower than in nursing homes without unions. Importantly, these union benefits spread to nursing home residents, who are 10.8% less likely to die of Covid-19 in nursing homes with unions.
SKLD workers will raise the alarm on their employer’s unfair labor practices and their failure to guarantee a safe and healthy workplace for every worker. Frontline nursing home workers at SKLD Bloomfield have faced a crushing combination of unsafe staffing ratios and poverty wages, struggling with the rising costs of gas, food and other essential goods. As their employer makes profit-driven decisions to cut corners, the frontline workers are putting their health on the line to fulfill their commitments to their patients and each other, regularly picking up extra shifts and risking burnout.
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SEIU Michigan represents nearly 30,000 workers across the state in the healthcare industry, the public sector and in property services. Our members provide essential services and care to our community. We believe in the power of joining together on the job to win higher wages and benefits while fighting for a more just society and an economy and democracy that works for all of us – Black, brown, white, Asian Pacific Islander and Native – not just corporations and the wealthy. We believe that we cannot achieve economic justice without securing racial justice and vice versa.
SEIU Healthcare Michigan is the largest healthcare union in Michigan, representing over 17,000 workers. Learn more at www.seiuhealthcaremi.org