1199ers Launch Alarisk.com to Raise Awareness of Quality Care and Workers’ Rights Concerns at Alaris Health

August 7, 2014

On Thursday, August 7, the caregivers of 1199SEIU launched a public information campaign to educate New Jersey residents about quality care and workers’ rights concerns at the for-profit nursing home chain Alaris Health. Starting this week, ads are running in several Hudson and Bergen County, NJ, newspapers, and a website, Alarisk.com, provides further information and a petition for New Jerseyans to take action.

Caregivers at four Alaris Health facilities in New Jersey have been working under expired contracts for over four months and have filed unfair labor practice charges against the company for refusing to bargain in good faith with 1199SEIU. Workers are concerned about persistent staffing shortages and management’s proposals to reduce job standards for many frontline staff, who earn less than $25,000 a year and do not have access to affordable family health benefits.

Alaris Health is a profitable company, having earned over $125 million in profits between 2010-2012 (the latest three years where Medicaid cost report data is available). Caregivers say that Alaris should be using its resources to invest properly in its workforce and ensure safe staffing and decent jobs for workers.

The launch of this public information campaign coincides with the 5-year anniversary of a 2009 strike when hundreds of workers at these facilities walked off the job for three days in response to the company’s repeated violations of labor law during contract negotiations. At the time, Alaris Health was called Omni Health Systems.

Despite the company’s re-branding effort, caregivers say the company continues to engage in the same types of unfair labor practices as it did when it operated under the Omni name.

On July 23rd, 2014, workers held a press conference in Jersey City announcing that 96% of their co-workers have signed petitions authorizing their bargaining committees to call a strike if necessary. A strike date has not yet been set, as caregivers are giving Alaris a final opportunity to bargain in good faith a fair contract that protects patients and workers.

For more info, visit Alarisk.com, follow on twitter, and check out facebook.