Nearly 450 workers at five nursing homes in Hartford, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor will begin a strike April 22 to resolve what they describe as unfair labor practices, their union announced Tuesday.
“Many of the caregivers, dietary, housekeeping and laundry workers we represent have received poverty-level wages, have spent weeks or days without pay, and have worked in some cases 16 hours a day for weeks on end,” said Jesse Martin, vice president of SEIU District 1199 New England.
The union announced that its membership had overwhelmingly authorized a strike for April 22 starting at 6 a.m. at Bloomfield Health Care Center, Hebrew Center for Health & Rehabilitation in West Hartford, Maple View Health and Rehabilitation Center in Rocky Hill, Windsor Health and Rehabilitation Center and Avery Heights Senior Living in Hartford.
“These employers have committed significant violations of federal labor law,” Martin said. “In one case at Windsor Rehab, they hired unlicensed staff, required them to work for two to three weeks without wages in exchange for the employer possibly taking the CNA licensure — this is modern day slavery.”
The union said those nursing homes are also among the last stragglers to reach new labor contracts; it said it has successfully negotiated multi-year agreements with about 90 percent of Connecticut’s nursing homes.
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