LPNs Protest $350/wk Health Plan from Healthcare Center

More than 25 licensed practical nurses who care for the frail and elderly at Northern Riverview Healthcare Center in Haverstraw joined a picket line in front of the facility last week.

The nurses, who became members of the healthcare workers union 1199SEIU earlier this year, were between shifts and not on the clock. Currently bargaining their first contract with the employer, the nurses are protesting the employer’s proposal for health benefits with exhorbitant premiums that are not in line with wages earned.

Certified nursing assistants (CNA’s) and service workers at the nursing home who have been members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East for years, already have a collective bargaining with Northern Riverview and that contract provides affordable health benefits, union officials said.

Rolland Allexander was on the picket line. At work he is an LPN. At home, he is a husband and the father of three young children.

“I love my job—but I have to take care of myself and my family too,” he said. “The health insurance that the employer offers for families is $350 a week! What family can afford that? I have a lot of responsibilities and one of them is to be sure that when my children get sick, they get the medical care they need. Paying for health benefits uses up almost every dollar I earn.”

“It’s the same for anyone who works in a nursing home with vulnerable residents,” he pointed out, referring to the his co-workers who have a contract. “If we can’t afford to go to the doctor when we are sick, that’s not good for the residents, and that’s just not good for anyone.”

The LPNs said that one of the reasons they became 1199 members is to be able to address one of their biggest concerns --- constant turnover of nursing staff.

“There is nothing unreasonable and everything right about the LPNs’ contract proposals,” said 1199SEIU Vice President Greg Speller. “It’s been proven time and again that collective bargaining agreements that provide healthcare workers with decent wages and benefits are a key in the recruitment and retention of quality nursing home staff. Stabilizing turnover and allowing for continuity of care for residents is the right thing to do.”