(WILLIAMSVILLE, NEW YORK) – Nursing Home Workers represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East held an informational picket Friday (March 31) outside the Comprehensive Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in the Buffalo Suburb of Williamsville, who did so to call public attention to chronic short staffing at the one-star facility that not only hurts their Employees, but more importantly, their residents.

Meanwhile, the 43 Workers who are employed at the 142-bed facility have been working without a contract since December 31st, 2022 when their three-year contract expired.

Negotiations on a new contract began one month before the contract expired.

However, to date, management has met with the Union’s Bargaining Committee only five times, which is significantly less than negotiations being held at other area nursing facilities.

Caregivers are asking their employer to provide better working conditions and to offer competitive wages and a pension to help retain and recruit more Workers at the facility.

Chronic short staffing and the employer’s offer of minimum wages are key issues in contract talks, 1199 SEIU Representatives say.

Comprehensive at Williamsville is a one-star facility which in recent years has seen high staff turnover rates - notably higher than the national average according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Union Officials said.

Nursing home workers at Comprehensive Nursing & Rehabilitation at Williamsville work as Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Nurse Assistants, Housekeeping Aides, Laundry Aides, Dietary Cooks and Dietary Aides

Ivan Tidwell, a Licensed Practical Nurse employed at the Williamsville facility, said: “Short staffing affects the quality of care.  We don’t have enough staff to cover the shifts and the residents might suffer because their care is delayed.  We need more In-House Workers to help to take care of our residents and to do that we need a fair contract.”

Sally Beiter, a Dietary Aide, said recruiting and retaining long-term Employees is key to continuity of care for residents, adding: “I’ve been here twenty-seven years and we need to make a change.  I have to think about retirement and can’t do that without a pension and better wages.”

On another front, Comprehensive Nursing & Rehabilitation at Williamsville owners have ties to Villages of Orleans and are named in the New York State Attorney General’s lawsuit against the Villages at Orleans.

According to the New York State Department of Health, the owners of Comprehensive at Williamsville are Ephram Lahasky, David Gast, Joshua Farkovits, Samuel Halper, Debbie Korngut, Teresa Lichtstein and Jeffrey Arem.

The State Attorney General’s lawsuit against Villages of Orleans owners allege years of financial fraud which resulted in resident neglect and harm.

Part of the lawsuit alleges that the owners misused more than $18 million in Medicaid funding to increase personal profits through related party transactions instead of using funds to properly staff the facility and to invest in resident care.

1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East - whose mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all, is the largest and fastest-growing Health Care Union in America, and represents more than 400,000 Nurses and Caregivers throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Florida, as well as in Washington, D.C.

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Nursing Home Workers To Hold Informational Picket Over Chronic Staffing Concerns in Williamsville (1199seiu.org)

 Video Snapshot Courtesy of 1199 SEIU Upstate NY's Facebook Page.