Today’s informational picket at Pawtucket nursing home “postponed”

On Saturday, May 8 at 3:00PM, frontline caregivers at the Pawtucket Falls Nursing Center at 70 Gill Ave, Pawtucket, who are members of SEIU 1199 New England, would have been holding an informational picket to “demand respect and dignity, fair wage increases to attract and retain caregivers, and affordable health insurance”.

In the early afternoon, after a call from RINewsToday to the nursing home for comment, the union and management signed an agreement not to picket today, and to continue negotiations. Both the union and the nursing home contacted RINewsToday to say the picket was off.

Union members stated the reason for their planned action. Our “chief concern… is management’s proposal to remove certified nursing assistants from each floor, which will further strain already short staffing, and negatively impact quality resident care”.

The union said that management was offering a 20 cent raise, “despite caregivers not receiving any raises during the pandemic”. Also in question is a potential “increase [in] employee health care costs by as much as $70 a week.

The Nursing home caregivers had planned to walk a picket line with banners and signs calling for “safe staffing, fair wages and affordable health care”, calling their action “Pawtucket Caregivers’ Informational Picket for a Fair Contract”.

In November of 2020, Pawtucket Center was purchased by CCH Healthcare. Caregivers have been unable to negotiate a new contract agreement since that transition. There are seven job categories open for application on the “careers” page of their website – https://pawtucketfalls.com/.

CCH is a New Jersey based company. In their application with the Rhode Island Department of Health, their projected profit margins, according to the union are “$1.9 million each year by 2023”. The Center has a 154 bed capacity. The Pawtucket location is one of 20 around the country, and their only in Rhode Island. Others are located in North Carolina and Ohio.

District 1199 SEIU New England represents 29,000 health care and service workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Southeastern Massachusetts, over 4,000 members in RI. SEIU identifies themselves as “a national leader in pushing the growing Fight for $15 and a Union movement”.

This is a developing story.