NJ Nursing Home Workers To Strike In Linden Monday

LINDEN, NJ — AristaCare at Delaire Nursing Home workers will strike and march on a picket line on Monday in protest of unfair labor practices and significant cuts to job standards.

The 24-hour strike will be held at the nursing home at 400 W. Stimpson Ave., in Linden beginning at 7 a.m. There will also be speakers at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The nursing home workers, who are members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, say these unfair practices are threatening their livelihoods and ability to keep themselves and their families healthy, according to the healthcare union.

Problems began this past summer when the for-profit nursing home chain AristaCare Health Services purchased the facility and scrapped the contract that workers had negotiated with the previous owner.

The cutbacks include a change in health benefits that now costs upwards of $1,000 a month for those who need family coverage. Also cuts were made to workers’ sick leave in half and to the retirement benefit.

“I’m striking so I can care for my family,” said Sandra Lopez, a certified nursing assistant. “How can I afford $1,000 a month for healthcare for my family when I earn only $12.89 an hour? Last month my daughter developed bronchitis and we had to pay out of pocket for her treatment. It gives me and my husband so much stress and worry to think about what would happen if any of us were to have a medical emergency because we can’t afford insurance.”

Political pressure has been building on AristaCare to reach an agreement with their employees. Last month, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders unanimously passed a resolution in support of the workers’ aims, calling on AristaCare to bargain in good faith and settle a fair contract.

State Senator Joseph Cryan joined workers at a vigil at the nursing home in December. Linden Mayor Derek Armstead has also spoken out in a letter to the company, asking management to avert the strike by doing “the right thing and restore the benefits that settle a fair contract so the residents of Delaire Nursing Home get the care that they pay for and deserve.”

“Reducing our sick time jeopardizes our residents’ safety because workers who can’t afford to take the day off come in sick,” said Vernicka Brown, a certified nursing assistant who has been at the facility for 29 years. “Staffing levels have also been getting worse and there’s been a lot of turnover since AristaCare took over. Skilled staff are leaving because the workload is growing while our compensation is going in the other direction.”

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