Members at Baltimore’s St. Elizabeth Rehabilitation and Nursing Center ratified a strong contract in the summer of 2019, and they attribute their wins to wide member participation at bargaining. They won 2% annual raises, earlier shift differentials, increases in tuition remission, and 75/25 insurance splits, among other things. As bargaining team member Latesha Quarles said, “We got just about everything we negotiated for. We didn’t give in easily.” The negotiations were standing-room only—packed with members who were unified in their demands. Quarles remembered that management really “knew that we were united. When they saw a few, they thought they had the victory, but then we turned around and came back with more people.” Teresa Stout, another bargaining committee member who also credits member participation with the win, urged members in all regions to “come to the meetings because it makes a difference when we have more people because then they see we’re about it, that we’re serious.”
