A union representing 750 workers at 10 nursing homes in western and central Pennsylvania has issued a notice for a three-day strike beginning Oct. 14 at eight of the homes — including Haida Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Hastings — to protest alleged unfair labor practices.

SEIU Healthcare PA has invoked a wage reopener provision in its contract with Valley West Health of New Jersey that came into play Aug. 1, but has met only once with the company, proposing a $2-an-hour increase, resulting in no counter-proposal, the cancellation of two meeting dates the company itself proposed and a failure by the firm to negotiate in good faith, according to union representatives, who held a virtual news conference Monday.

On the contrary, the union has been acting in “bullying” and “reckless” bad faith; has been violating a “no-strike, no-lockout” provision that remains in force despite the wage reopener; has been asking for wage increases retroactive to July 1 in violation of the potential start date of Sept. 1 for new wages; and further, has been ignoring the need for the firm to defer negotiations until after the Jewish holidays, which stretch from Rosh Hashana on Sept. 22 to Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on Oct. 14, according to a company response and online information.

The company’s accusation of recklessness is “disingenuous and disrespectful” to the nurses, nursing aides, dietary, laundry and maintenance staffers, who voted 97% in favor of issuing the strike notice, according to union President Matt Yarnell and a union news release — which included a demand for Valley West to file a report with the state to demonstrate that it is spending the required 70% of its Medicaid funding on bedside care.

The company has been trying to win favor among employees with pizza, brownies and doughnuts, but “brownies don’t put money in the gas tank,” said Haida certified nursing assistant April Chirdon, who spoke during the news conference.

The company has taken to calling items needed for basic care “luxuries,” has been ungenerous in supplying items like briefs and wipes and is trying to save by using cheap shampoo — leading workers to bring their own, “so the residents feel clean,” Chirdon said.

The union’s demand for wage hikes of 20% to 25% is unrealistic and shows a failure to recognize the ramifications of Valley West having purchased the homes out of Guardian Elder Care’s bankruptcy, according to an Oct. 1 letter from David Jasinski, Valley West’s labor attorney, to Patty Ludwikowsky, vice president-director for nursing homes for the union — a copy of which Valley West supplied upon the Mirror’s request for comment.

“(E)ach facility was on the verge of bankruptcy,” Jasinski wrote. “Absent Valley West’s intervention, in all likelihood, residents would have faced displacement, employees would have faced unemployment and communities would have lost facilities whose care had served them for decades.”

The facilities continue “to operate in a very challenging environment,” Jasinski wrote. “As opposed to Guardian, we are not giving up and running away.”

Increases of 20% to 25% are “unsustainable,” given the recent bankruptcy and given that Medicaid funding increases the state has promised for nursing homes have not materialized — coupled with rumored Medicaid cuts under the “Big Beautiful Bill,” a company representative stated in an email.

The company’s “priority has never wavered: residents first, staff second, fiscal responsibility always,” the email stated.

The offer to meet Oct. 16 still stands, but if the union doesn’t desist immediately, the company “will take any and all legal action seeking any and all damages,” according to the firm’s email and letter.

The company says it can’t afford to give raises, but it just bought 10 nursing homes and reportedly wants to buy four more, which casts doubt on that claim, according to Tiffany Cothren, a CNA from Waynesburg Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.

The proposal for a $2 increase is just a starting point for negotiations, anyway, one of the workers said.

The jobs the union members work aren’t easy, Chirdon said.

“(They’re) physically, mentally and emotionally hard,” she stated. “Without competitive wages, people don’t want to work these jobs.”

None of the workers actually want to strike, said dietary worker and cook Tyreika Tate of Walnut Creek Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, speaking of the strike.

They’re doing it, however, for both the residents and themselves, Tate said.

All the company needs to do is “show up and bargain in good faith” to solve the issue, Chirdon said.

Contingency staffing plans are in place for the three days of the possible strike, according to the company.

“Bonuses will be provided for those who continue to work,” the company stated. “Residents and families can be assured that safety and care come first.”

Valley West hasn’t been cooperative, but SEIU Healthcare PA has managed to reach strong contracts with wage increases for workers in 60 other nursing homes in the state, Yarnell said.

Informational pickets are scheduled for Oct. 16 at the two homes not included in the strike notice.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.