 Photo: Robin Nelson |
Local 4’s membership is predominantly female, including many single mothers. More than 60 percent of the workers are African American. Others are Latino, Asian and Polish. About 20 percent of the workers are immigrants. Before the settlement, the average pay for the nursing home workers was $8.78 an hour. This put many full-time workers below the federal poverty line.
For the first time in Local 4’s history, a bargaining committee formed by the union members themselves negotiated the contract. In preparation for the negotiations, a new union leadership trained over 50 stewards to be on the bargaining committee. These stewards sat at the table with the employers, as well as the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities, and bargained for increased pay, health care benefits and improved working conditions.
According to Mathilda de Dios, a staff member with Local 4, “the owners, including Floyd Schlossberg of the Alden Group, which includes many of the nursing homes in the bargaining unit, never before had to sit across the table and confront the power of the membership. In the past, the former president and other people would negotiate the contract behind closed doors.”
Various tactics employed
Preparations for the contract negotiations also included bargaining members traveling to nursing homes to educate and activate leaders. A member-to-member network was established, and weekly workplace activities like small group meetings were organized. Numerous petitions were circulated and presented to the nursing home administrators.
The membership participated in legislative postcard actions and lobbied Illinois state representatives in the capital, Springfield, to gain political support for their contract fight. They introduced legislation to force the nursing home owners to reveal their profits. During the negotiations, they held 35 informational picket lines.
Of the process leading up to the settlement, Local 4’s spokesperson Paul Waterhouse said, “at every step, members were the major actors in the battle, taking the message to co-workers, politicians and reporters. By owning the process, and learning what it takes to win, they set in motion the huge strike authorization vote that put major pressure on the owners in the closing days of the fight.”
The workers take very seriously the importance of the service they provide to nursing home residents. During bargaining, they stressed that the bosses put the residents in a dangerous situation. Not paying a living wage caused turnover that jeopardized patient care.
To create support for their struggle, the workers informally talked with family members of the nursing home residents when it became apparent that management was attempting to ignore the workers’ concerns at the bargaining table. The response from family members was positive and supportive. A certified nursing assistant also wrote a letter to community members on behalf of the workers to gain support in the week before the strike deadline. The unity of the workers and the combination of their tactics paid off.
Wage increases and better employment terms
The new agreement calls for hourly wage increases of 70 cents this year, 45 cents next year and 40 cents the following year. An additional wage premium, ranging from one percent to three percent, will be paid to employees with 15 or more years of service. The contract also includes temporary assignment pay. Taking into account all improvements, the contract raises wages an average of 21 percent over the next three years.
The contract covers many aspects of the workers’ lives on the job. In addition to wage increases, the workers won greater health care coverage and prescription drug assistance for the first time. They achieved increased coverage for medical tests and referral consultations.
The contract increases the number of paid sick days. It strengthens the union recognition clause and better protects workers from layoffs. The workers also won scheduling concessions. For example, if management holds a meeting during a break, it will have to compensate the workers for the break.
The contract now includes clauses stipulating that the IAHCF language is neutral at non-union nursing homes in the association. Bosses often use anti-union language to discourage organizing. Also, additional workers in nursing homes such as secretaries and receptionists will now be able to be included in the bargaining unit. The workers won many more rights on the job, including a clause that protects their dignity and respect.
Local 4 is gearing up to begin organizing non-union nursing homes in the IAHCF in the coming weeks. There are many more nursing homes in Chicago’s suburbs and downstate that also need to be organized.
Members of Local 4 feel they still need to be paid more, but they are pleased with the gains they have fought for and won so far. The contract was overwhelmingly ratified by the membership.
Local 4’s long struggle engaged and invigorated many unionized workers. The workers have increased their unity and consciousness as a whole. They are now looking ahead to increase their gains when they renegotiate the contract in two-and-a-half years.
SEIU Local 4 chief negotiator Hal Ruddick said that the agreement provides the best raises in the local’s history and includes a requirement that non-union facilities in the association remain neutral in union organizing campaigns.
