TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED IN DISPUTE AT WESTGATE NURSING HOME
Monday, December 15, 2008
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers
East
Upstate New York Division
Service Employees
International Union
225 West
Broad Street, Suite B
Rochester, New
York 14608
Telephone:
(585)-244-0830
Fax:
(585)-244-0956
Website:
www.1199seiu.org
MEDIA RELEASE
DECEMBER 15,
2008
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED IN
DISPUTE AT WESTGATE NURSING
HOME
PICKETING STOPS AFTER TWO HOURS
WHEN SETTLEMENT IS
ANNOUNCED
(Gates, NY) - Employees of Westgate Nursing
Home
delayed their
planned picketing this morning
while union and management met
to hammer out
a settlement of the multi-year
labor dispute. When no
agreement was
reached by 1 pm, the workers
took to the street and marched in
front of the
facility on Beahan Road.
In a dramatic turn of events, less
than two hours
later, union officials
announced that a tentative agreement
had been
reached. The picket
stopped.
"I
am very glad that we
have won our first union contract."
said
Michelle Lane, a certified nursing
assistant. "I thank my coworkers
for
sticking together and I thank the
community for their support."
Details of the final
settlement
will be released after Westgate
workers have
voted on the proposed contract,
their first ever. No date for
the vote
has yet been set.
Employees of Westgate had
notified the facility of their intent
to
picket
when talks broke down last Thursday over
economic issues. Calls
between
management and union officials resulted in a
hastily called
negotiating
session this morning attended by a Federal
Mediator.
Eighty staff
of the facility are involved. They work
as licensed
practical nurses,
certified nursing assistants, dietary,
housekeeping, and
other service
assistants. They have been without a
raise in pay for the
last five years.
The workers organized a chapter of 1199 SEIU in
2004, and
have been
negotiating for a first contract since
2005.
Westgate Nursing
Home is a 124 bed, for-profit long tern
care
facility located at 525 Beahan
Road in Gates, New York.
The workers are members of 1199
SEIU
United Healthcare Workers
East. 1199
SEIU members in the Rochester area work
at the UR Medical
Center, Jordan Health
Center, Wesley Gardens, Latta Road,
and Aaron Manor
nursing homes, and at the
Blossom nursing centers.
For further information, please
contact Dana Alas at (585)
738-2698
(cellphone).