Strike planned at Presbyterian Village (150 employees organized last year)

[Omaha Steve]

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/05/15/news/doc4dcf4634c7247082196640.txt

Published: Sunday, May 15, 2011

By LESLIE KROWCHENKO
Times Correspondent

MARPLE — Due to the inability to negotiate a contract between the union and Broomall Presbyterian Village (BPV), caregivers and service workers at the facility voted unanimously Wednesday to hold a one-day strike May 25.

The nearly 150 employees, who organized last year, have been bargaining for more than 12 months with parent company Presby’s Inspired Life. The non-managerial staff is affiliated with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, which represents 23,000 nurses, technicians, nursing assistants and support staff in hospitals, nursing homes and public institutions throughout the state.

“This is not something the employees want to do,” said SEIU vice president Kevin Hefty. “Their dispute is not with the residents, it is with their employer, but we feel it is the only option left.”

The planned strike is in response to a pattern of “unfair bargaining tactics” by the company, according to a SEIU press release. Health care workers are required to provide 10 days notice of an action and charges were filed May 11 in the Philadelphia office of the National Labor Relations Board.

FULL story at link.