About 70,000 nurses and other caregivers at more than 100 healthcare facilities in New York City, represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, have approved a one-day strike for July 31 if a contract agreement is not reached.
The union is in the midst of contract negotiations with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, an employer group that represents 109 hospitals, nursing homes and other clinics in the area.
A strike was approved with a 95 percent yes vote. The union will tell the League by Monday at 12 p.m. ET whether the strike is moving forward, pending the progress of negotiations.
The League introduced a new proposal this week that would preserve and fund all of the workers' current health, pension, job security, training and child care benefits, according to a Staten Island Advance report.
"This is an important step in our efforts to preserve all existing benefits, including free healthcare, for our entire 1199 workforce," Bruce McIver, president of the League, told Staten Island Advance.
However, the progress may not be enough to avert the strike. A union release states the employers "have made no other proposals on the issues that matter to caregivers," like making sure all healthcare jobs, especially those in outpatient facilities, are "good union jobs for working New Yorkers."
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