SEIU-UHW Caregivers at Sava Nursing Homes Win Highest Standards Statewide for Resident Care, Wages, Workers' Rights

New contract shows strength of uniting long-term care workers with hospital workers in one healthcare union OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 4


OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- By a unanimous vote, nursing home
workers approved a new contract with Sava Senior Care on Wednesday that
includes the strongest resident care protections and the highest wages among
nursing homes statewide.


"It's exciting to win a contract that gives us a stronger voice for
advocate for residents, and also provides the wages we need to keep
experienced caregivers on the job," said Patrick Forte, a resident care
specialist and certified nursing assistant at Diamond Ridge Healthcare Center
in Pittsburg, California.  "It shows what nursing home workers can accomplish
when we're united with hospital workers in the same union."


The new contract covers close to 300 workers at three facilities: Diamond
Ridge in Pittsburg, Fruitvale Healthcare Center in Oakland, and Excell
Healthcare Center in Oakland. It is the latest victory in a campaign by
members of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) to close the gap
between acute care facilities such as hospitals and long-term care facilities
like nursing homes.


Sava Senior Care is a leading nursing home employer that has recognized
the importance of investing in its workforce to keep turnover low and raise
the quality of care for residents. Workers at Sava nursing homes won:



-- The first contract that matches wage scales already won by workers at
another nursing home chain - a step toward industry - wide contracts. The wage
scale shared with Mariner nursing homes is tied on a percentage basis to wages
at Kaiser Permanente, where hospital workers hold the best contract in the
industry. By the end of the three-year agreement, the starting rate for a
nurse assistant will reach $16.61/hr, the highest in the state.


-- The first contract that gives nursing home workers a voice in resident
care issues through "quality care committees" and a mediation process to
resolve them.


-- A code of conduct that protects all workers from intimidation if they
choose to form a union. The code is modeled on those won by SEIU-UHW hospital
workers, and protects workers at non-union Sava Senior Care facilities.


-- A commitment to honor workers' contract even if a facility is sold to
another nursing home operator.




Recent SEIU-UHW contracts have been lauded by experts in the nursing home
field. Charlene Harrington, professor of sociology and nursing at UC San
Francisco, said the Sava contract is superior to those reached under the
now-defunct California Nursing Home Alliance - a partnership between nursing
homes operators and unions that fell apart in 2006.


"UHW members' new contracts with Sava Senior Care and Mariner show how a
strong contract and a strong union can improve quality," Harrington said.
"UHW's nursing home contracts empower caregivers with new tools to stand up
for their residents, unlike the failed Alliance agreement that discouraged
such advocacy."


More than 75,000 healthcare workers at 100 nursing homes and 50 hospitals
are working together this year in what may be the largest-ever coordinated
bargaining effort in the healthcare industry. SEIU-UHW members worked for 12
years to line up the expiration dates of their contracts so they could win
higher standards for patient care, safer staffing levels, and better wages and
training for caregivers.


Their gains are now at risk because of an effort by national SEIU
officials to transfer California long-term care workers out of SEIU-UHW
without a fair vote. The move would divide nursing home workers and homecare
workers from their counterparts in hospitals, allowing national union
officials to pursue deals like the failed Alliance agreement.



With more than 150,000 members, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West is the
fastest-growing healthcare union in the United States. We represent healthcare
workers in all job classifications and all healthcare settings, including
hospitals, homecare, nursing homes and clinics. Our mission is to achieve
high-quality healthcare for all.



Contact Sadie Crabtree, 323-365-2083



SOURCE  SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West