(EDMUNDSON, MISSOURI) – 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-represented Health Care Workers from Lewiston, New York rallied earlier this week outside Ascension Living’s Headquarters to bring their protest right to their employer over what they describe are unfair wages and a lack of staffing.

The Workers are employed at Our Lady of Peace, a 250-bed facility in Lewiston that’s owned-and-operated by Ascension Living - a non-profit, Catholic Health System.

Union Workers and their Representatives believe the wages Ascension Living proposed at contract negotiations with its Our Lady of Peace Employees are not on par with other facilities in the area, said Grace Bogdanove, Area Vice President for the SEIU Local 1199’s Western New York Nursing Home Division.

The starting wage for Certified Nursing Assistants at the facility is $14.25 and the starting wage for Licensed Practical Nurses is $19.77, Bogdanove said.

At other nursing homes in the area, the Union has negotiated starting wages of $16.50 for Certified Nursing Assistants and $24 for Licensed Practical Nurses.

While Ascension has publicly stated that it has been bargaining in good faith - Krista Diez, a Licensed Practical Nurse who’s worked at Our Lady of Peace since 2017 participated in the St. Louis protest that was held on Tuesday (March 15th) with two of her Co-Workers.

Diez said she works 60 to 70 hours a week and feels guilty when she goes home at the end of her shifts because the facility is short-staffed.

Diez and her colleagues said they came to St. Louis County to push for higher wages, which they think would help the facility attract more Workers and alleviate the shortages.

“They’re ‘not hearing us from New York,’” Diez said.

The Union represents about 150 Workers at the Lewiston Facility, including Nurses, Nursing Assistants and Housekeepers, among other positions.

The nursing home recently closed three of its six units because it could not recruit and retain enough Workers to staff them, Bogdanove said.

Workers held a one-day Strike in Lewiston last week (For More On That Labor News Story, Read 1199 SEIU-Represented Nursing Home Workers Employed At Ascension Living’s Our Lady Of Peace Nursing Home In Niagara County Conduct One-Day Strike, ‘Demand Competitive Wages & Better Staffing Levels’ At www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2022/03/09/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/1199-seiu-represented-nursing-home-workers-employed-at-ascension-living-s-our-lady-of-peace-nursing-home-in-niagara-county-conduct-one-day-strike-demand-competitive-wages-better-staffing-levels/) 

Bogdanove said 1199 SEIU decided to come to Ascension’s headquarters in St. Louis County ahead of the next bargaining session that will be held on Monday (March 21st).

“We ‘needed to see them in their own backyard,’” Bogdanove said. “We’re ‘hopeful that this will apply enough pressure that we will be able to settle this’ on (March 21st).”

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: www.stltoday.com/business/local/union-protests-wages-at-st-louis-county-health-system-headquarters/article_9a40c768-b47f-5360-a729-e2f7aab75b00.html