(GETZVILLE, NEW YORK) – Unionized Nursing Home Workers at one of the last non-profit facilities in Western New York plan to hold a two-day Strike beginning Wednesday, July 31st to protest a poorly managed facility, unpaid benefits, low wages, and inadequate staffing levels.  

The Workers’ current contract covering more than 300 Caregivers - who are represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East, at the Weinberg Campus in the Buffalo Suburb Amherst expired on October 31st (2023).

Those employed at the Weinberg Campus include Food Service Workers, Maintenance Workers, Cooks, Environmental Service Workers, Housekeeping, Certified Nurse Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, Personal Care Aides, Clerical Workers, Home Health Aides and Community Home Health Aides. 

Over the last year, the Workers have lobbied State Officials to secure millions of dollars in Vital Access Provider Funding and significant increases to Medicaid Reimbursement2 rates for the struggling facility.  

“We’ve helped Weinberg win funding from the State and now we won’t accept less than what we deserve,” said John Raczynski, a Cook at the facility who has worked there for more than 23 years. 

Despite additional State funding, Weinberg Campus is behind on payments for Employee Benefits, including health care, pension and other earned entitlements, the Union said.

Payments to vendors providing these benefits to Workers also are delinquent, they added.   

The Workers say minimum wage rates for many jobs do not help to recruit and retain Employees to provide care for residents. 

Pay rates at the Amherst site have remained unchanged since November 2022, the Union said.   

“They won’t even pay us what we deserve after all we have done to keep Weinberg afloat,” said Annie Marie Przbysz, a Patient Care Assistant/Med Tech - a 26-year Employee.  “We need a fair contract and leadership we can trust will do right by us and the residents we serve.”

A further rub is that Weinberg Campus President and CEO Bob Mayer is one of the highest paid leaders in Western New York. 

In 2022, Mayer earned more than $353,000 including salary, pension and other benefits, while some of the facility’s Workers live paycheck to paycheck, 1199 SEIU Officials said. 

As a non-profit, Weinberg Campus is led by a Board of Directors including: Board President Kenneth Rogers; Lawrence Cohen; John Craik; Ryan Gellman; Robert Mayer; Monica Neuwirt; and Orrin Tobbe - the same Board that decided to put a halt to a potential sale to a for-profit ownership group back in 2017.4 

1199 SEIU had issued a 10-day notice to Weinberg Campus leaders and the New York State Department of Health last week in preparation for the two-day Strike, which will end on Friday, August 2nd When Nursing Home Workers will return to work.  

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, representing more than 400,000 Nurses and Caregivers throughout the States of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida, and in Washington, D.C.

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Getzville Nursing Home Workers to Strike Over Poor Management of Weinberg Campus As Earned Benefits Go Unpaid for Months (1199seiu.org)