A couple of weeks ago we joined SEIU members outside our neighborhood nursing home.
At the 11th hour, just before what would have been the largest strike by nursing home health care workers in the U.S., a settlement was reached between the management of 103 nursing homes across the Chicago area and 10,000 SEIU members.
As it happens, Larry Alcoff, SEIU organizer, was scheduled at 11AM to be on our Friday morning Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers (105.5FM in Chicago, streaming at http://www.lumpenradio.com), to explain the issues of the strike, scheduled to start today, Thursday, May 4th.
The threat of a strike was enough.
Although maybe Larry’s scheduled appearance might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and we will be pleased to offer our radio/podcast to all working men and women as a weapon in the battle between labor and management.
Here is the statement from SEIU:
Nursing home workers have reached a tentative agreement with nursing home owners for a three-year contract, averting the largest nursing home strike in history.
Through this contract, the owners and management teams at the 103 nursing homes of the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities recognize 10,000 SEIU Healthcare Illinois members as skilled, dedicated, and irreplaceable employees who provide quality care.
Nursing home workers won important improvements, including:
- Significant wage increases. This means nursing home workers will be able to provide for their families while taking care of others.
- Staffing provisions to help reduce turnover and increase the quality of care for residents.
SEIU Healthcare Illinois will provide a full statement on the tentative agreement later today.
Fred Klonsky 
Couldn’t be happier for these hard-working people who perform some of the most difficult jobs on the planet.
Congratulations to the SEIU.
And this, people who write to this blog & harangue Fred, is why we have and need unions.