The Pennsylvania nursing home strike ended Monday after eight days, the longest in the union's history, WKBN reported Sept. 12.
New contracts were reached Friday for 13 nursing homes and the last one was ratified Saturday, according to The Morning Call.
"After seven days on the picket line, we're eager to get back to our residents and the work we love. It was an incredibly difficult decision to strike, but we hung together because we deserve a contract that protects our union, strengthens our workforce and puts resident care first," comprehensive bargaining committee member Shannon McBride, a certified nursing assistant at The Grove at Irwin, owned by Comprehensive Healthcare, told WKBN.
Four notes:
- About 700 workers participated in the statewide strike that began Labor Day weekend.
- The new contracts include pay increases of more than $3 an hour, with average raises of 9 percent in the first year up to 18 percent by the end of the three-year contract, Lancaster Online reported.
- The contracts also included health insurance adjustments and the maintaining of nursing home contracts if the nursing home is sold, WKBN said.
- The Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which represents for-profit nursing homes, told The Morning Call that the increased Medicaid reimbursements do not go into effect until January and the American Rescue Plan money has not yet been distributed.