MEDIA ADVISORY: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Contact: April.Ezzell@1199.org, 1199SEIU Communications (716) 449-1620

More than 300 healthcare workers at Living Legends Network facilities in Westfield, East Aurora and Allegany will hold informational pickets next week.

Buffalo, NY: Nursing home workers at three rural nursing home facilities owned by Living Legends Network will hold informational pickets next week over wages, benefits, and union rights. The current one-year contract is set to expire April 30th. Both sides have been negotiating since early February.

WHO: Union Nursing Home Workers, Supporters, Elected Officials

WHAT: 3 Informational Pickets

WHEN: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 from 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Press Conference: 3:15 PM at Absolut Care of Aurora Park

WHERE:
Absolut Care at Allegany | 2178 N 5th St, Allegany, NY 14706
**Absolut Care at Aurora Park | 292 Main St, East Aurora, NY 14052
Absolut Care at Westfield | 26 Cass St, Westfield, NY 14787

WHY: Caregivers at Absolut Care of Allegany, Absolut Care of Aurora Park, Absolut Care of Orchard Brooke, and Absolut Care of Westfield (dba as RCA Servicer at Allegany, LLC, RCA Servicer at Aurora Park, LLC, RCA Servicer at Orchard Brooke, LLC, and RCA Servicer, LLC at Westfield) have been bargaining for a fair contract with their employer since early February. The current contract covering more than 300 union nursing home workers is set to expire April 30th.

“We are constantly understaffed and overworked, said Karly Beaujean, Licensed Practical Nurse at Absolut Care of Westfield. “We are constantly burned out. When new staff come in, they end up leaving. If we were able to offer the same or better wages like other nursing homes in our area, then hopefully new workers would stay and help us give the residents the care they deserve,” said Beaujean.

Union workers say that the employer’s current proposals want to limit their ability to participate in protected union job actions, threatening their voice on the job. “If we voted for a job action, then it’s our right as workers to participate – no matter how long,” said Darla Hamilton, Housekeeper at Absolute Care of Allegany.

Caregivers at the four rural facilities work as Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Nurse Assistants, Home Health Aides, Patient Care Assistants, Medical Techs, Housekeepers, Cooks, and Dietary Workers.

The four facilities are owned and operated by members of the Living Legends Health Network which includes: Absolut Care, McGuire Group, Taconic Health Care, and VestraCare. Living Legends Health Network group is managed by Long Island native, Edward Farbenblum¹.

Three of the four facilities are currently undergoing a change in ownership through New York State Department of Health (project 201264, 201263, and 201267). The for-profit residential health care facilities will be owned by Michael Farbenblum, Menachem Tauber, and Mordechai Mendlowitz once the application for the change is approved by New York State Department of Health.

Both sides are set to return to negotiations on the morning of the picket, April 10. Workers will hold a strike vote following next week’s informational picket.

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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.

www.1199seiu.org

 

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¹ Nursing home tycoon’s son invests in troubled Bishop Rehab Center. A move to skirt scrutiny? - syracuse.com