Members in Upstate NY and Florida reach eleventh-hour deals after winning strike votes.

1199 members workers at two Western New York nursing homes voted to ratify a new 1-year labor agreement in late August, averting a planned 24-hour strike at two care facilities in Amherst and Tonawanda, near Buffalo.

The contract covers about 170 workers and includes wage increases of up to 32 percent, with an average increase of 7 percent. Members also won Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday.

“We are glad that we could reach a final agreement,” says Heather Benns, an 1199 LPN. “Experience pay is important because you go to school to earn your license, or you take classes to earn your certification. If you have 30 years with that certification or 10 years with that license, you bring a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to a nursing home. It significantly affects resident care, particularly as we encounter an increasing number of high-acuity residents,” adds Benns.

About 70 Nursing home workers at Safire Rehabilitations of Northtowns in Tonawanda work as Certified Nurse Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Unit Clerks.

More than 100 workers at Williamsville Suburban Care Center work as Activities Aides, Certified Nurse Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, Physical Therapy Aides, Unit Secretaries, and Maintenance Assistants.

In Florida, 1199ers mounted informational pickets at 11 different locations to raise awareness of what they called a “care crisis” at long-term care facilities owned by the for-profit company, Aspire Health Group.

Aspire nursing home workers, which include more than 1,000 certified nursing assistants, dietary aides, housekeepers and other staff, voted to picket after several months of negotiations with Aspire yielded little progress. Staffing levels and pay were the chief sticking points. It was not until a strike was called that there was real movement at the table. An eleventh-hour agreement was reached on a 3-year contract proposal which included a 2 percent wage increase and ratification bonuses to avert the strike.

Members say the staffing levels do not leave them enough time to dress, feed, bathe and provide quality care for residents.

“We just want to give them the love that they deserve,” said Diane McMullen, a CNA of 20plus years at the Aspire-owned facility at Rosewood in Orlando.

“We are their family,” McMullen says of Rosewood's residents.

“We love them, too.” McMullen adds that she was inspired to become a CNA because of her brother, who also spent time in a nursing home.