Responding to a request from legislative leaders, Connecticut’s largest union of health care workers announced today it is withdrawing its notices to strike at eight nursing homes. The three-day walkout was scheduled to begin Wednesday.
House Speaker Christopher Donovan and Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. sent a letter to the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, and the state’s nursing home association late Monday afternoon in which they asked that the strike notices be withdrawn and that both sides immediately return to the bargaining table to resume talks.
Their request came the same day that several legislative committees held a public hearing on funding problems facing the state’s nursing homes. Workers’ contracts expired last month.
“We believe that this morning’s discussions can help move us away from conflict toward resolution. We urge all parties to give this process more time to produce acceptable agreements,” the two lawmakers wrote.
The union had notified nursing home owners that more than 800 nurses, aides and other staff would walk off the job for three days this month. It sent strike notices to homes in Hartford, Winsted, Ansonia, Colchester, Windsor, Meriden and Glastonbury. Workers are at odds with management over wages and proposed benefit concessions.
“We considered their request and decided to honor it,” Carmen Boudier, the union’s president, said in a statement. District 1199 sent letters overnight to Genesis Elder Care and Spectrum Healthcare, owners of the facilities, informing them that all union employees will report to work as scheduled on Wednesday.
It’s unclear how the nursing home companies, who have had to make preparations for a possible strike, such as hiring replacement workers, will respond to the union’s announcement.
Matthew V. Barrett, executive vice president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, said he could not immediately comment. (AP)
