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Bargaining over the first union contract for home care workers employed by the University of Rochester’s home care corporation resumed Tuesday. Talks stalled last week over 16 outstanding economic issues, union officials say.
The union representing about 110 professional and clinical home care workers, 1199SEIU, is in talks with University of Rochester Medicine Home Care. URMHC’s management team changed its position this week on workers’ caseloads, setting back progress on an agreement that has been in the works for about seven months, union officials say.
URMHC includes UR Medicine’s nonprofit, Medicare-certified home health care agencies, licensed home care agencies and hospice programs. Approximately 400 people work at URMHC and provide services for patients in Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties.
In a statement, the union called the reversal a delay tactic and said it is bargaining for reasonable patient caseloads alongside a comprehensive benefits package to protect the quality of care and aid in staff recruiting and retention.
The caregivers covered by the prospective contract assist patients with the transition from the hospital back into their homes. They provide nursing care; physical, occupational and speech therapy; and medical and social work services.
“With increases in our cases’ loads, it’s hard to provide the quality care our patients deserve. I enjoy my work and can’t leave my patients because there’s nobody for them if we aren’t there,” said Robert Austen, a physical therapist.
Talks restarted at 3:30 p.m., and there are six more upcoming dates slated for negotiations, but 1199SEIU says having two sessions per week through early January is too slow of a pace. Late last month, 91 percent of union members who voted gave their bargaining committee the authority to issue a 10-day notice for an informational picket to inform the public about negotiations.
Most large employers can bargain multiple days per week for 12 hours or more per day to expedite the process, the union says. Talks with URMHC have been sluggish in part due to management changing negotiators, union adds.
“It’s very unusual and not typically how bargaining works,” said Elizabeth Davila, 1199SEIU’s administrative organizer. “We want management to treat negotiations as a high priority for not just staff, but also the patients they serve in their homes.”
The union says the two sides have come to a tentative agreement on non-economic items and nearly half of the economic items at hand.
Home care workers at the university voted in March to join 1199SEIU, which is also currently attempting to organize student workers at the school. The University of Rochester, URMHC’s parent, is the largest private-sector employer in Upstate New York.
Margaret Wiant, URMHC’s director of communications and consumer relations, says the corporation has been negotiating in good faith.
“We are sincere in our desire to reach a fair agreement as demonstrated by our agreement to 50% of the provisions proposed,” she says. “We remain committed to treating each and every employee fairly—both those who are union-represented and those who are not.”
Justin O’Connor is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].
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