Press Release: May 2, 2024
Contact: April Ezzell, (716) 449-1620, 1199SEIU Communications

 

Upstate, NY – Workers at University of Rochester Medicine Home Care (URMHC) followed a national rising trend¹ last year, overwhelmingly voting in favor of joining a labor union. About 115 professional and clinical home care workers from URMHC now represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East will begin negotiating their first labor contract next week.

Professional and clinical home care workers
from URMHC are the first and unique type of job category. Caregivers assist patients with the transition from the hospital back into their home and provide nursing care, physical, occupational, speech therapy, medical and social work services.²

Negotiations between 1199SEIU and University of Rochester, the largest private employer in Upstate begin Monday, May 6th.

“I’m looking forward to working with 1199SEIU to negotiate a fair contract for the Clinicians of UR Medicine Home Care,” said Dave Simon, Physical Therapist. “We must establish reasonable productivity expectations, fair pay and benefits, and become the regional healthcare employer of choice,” said Simon.

Since the massive one-day strike held by bedside caregivers and service workers at University of Rochester Medical Center³ last year, more and more workers in Rochester are voting to join a union and secure a contract.

The new bargaining unit of Professional Home Care Workers at URHMC work as Registered Nurses, Child Life Specialists, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, Dietitians, Licensed Practical Nurses, Medical Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Pediatric Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Speech Language Pathologists, and Speech Therapists.

University of Rochester Medicine Home Care (URMHC) workers provide professional home care services for patients in Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties.

On background:
More and more professional healthcare workers are voting to join or form unions. Recently, nearly 800 Physicians in Training at the University of Buffalo formed a union⁴.

Earlier this year, University of Rochester Graduate Students began forming a union to fight for living wages⁵ with the largest private sector employer in Upstate New York.

Last year, some 1,600 Home Health Aides, Personal Care Attendants and Consumer Directed Personal Attendants across New York State who are employed by Community Care Companions, Inc.6 voted to join 1199SEIU. More than 600 of those home care workers live in Upstate with approximately 400 of them from the Rochester area. Home care workers are currently negotiating a first contract with their employer.

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 400,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.
https://www.1199seiu.org

 

 

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¹University of Rochester grad students looking to unionize (spectrumlocalnews.com)
²History - About UR Medicine Home Care - University of Rochester Medical Center
³Over 1,000 URMC workers return to work following 1-day strike - WHEC.com
⁴Meet the doctors behind the UB resident physician union (buffalonews.com)
⁵University of Rochester grad students looking to unionize (spectrumlocalnews.com) 6 communitycarehhs.com