Holiday solidarity with nursing home workers on strike

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.seiu.org/2010/12/holiday-solidarity-with-nursing-home-workers-on-st.php

December 29, 2010

By Matt O'Connor

For eight months nearly 400 nursing home workers in Connecticut have stood strong for a fair contract, safe workplaces, and quality care for the residents they serve. Our Union members have picketed and rallied with their sisters and brothers in District 1199/SEIU because their struggle is fundamentally about the future of Connecticut's middle class. And as the holidays approached, CSEA leaders "adopted a strike line" to help cover family healthcare costs for these nursing, dietary, housekeeping and laundry workers.

At their October meeting, our Union's Executive Council voted to contribute $2,500.00 to the strike fund. By that time, workers from four Spectrum Healthcare facilities had been picketing for six months as their employer refused to negotiate in good faith.

A week later, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against the company for additional unfair practices, including Spectrum's rejection of their employees' offer to return to work. With a hearing date scheduled for January, it became clear the dispute would drag on past the holidays.

These developments and the generosity of our Executive Council inspired leaders of three of our Union's councils to step up support for the nursing home workers' strike fund. Leaders of our P-4 Council, which represents over 2,500 engineering, scientific, and technical professionals working for the State, voted to contribute $1,000.00 at their monthly delegates meeting in November.

Representatives of our Council 400, which represents retired public service workers and their spouses, continued the "Good Works" effort and two weeks later approved a $2,000.00 contribution. Then earlier this month, delegates to our P-3B Council, which represents nearly 900 instructional, educational, and rehabilitation professionals in state agencies, added another $1,000.00 donation.

FULL story at link.