(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) - Caregivers employed at Rochester Regional’s Unity Living Center have returned to bargaining after the Union-represented Workers unanimously voted to authorize their Member-led Bargaining Committee to issue a 10-day notice to picket if a settlement cannot be reached soon. 

The contract covering more than 110 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East-represented Workers expired on July 31st (2025).

Caregivers are fighting for competitive wages to help recruit and retain Workers, a staffing incentive bonus, and Preceptor Pay - and demanding their employer provide a staffing incentive bonus when Units are working with a 50% vacancy rate. 

A staffing incentive bonus could be triggered to ensure those Units maintain adequate staffing ratios, avoiding Staff burnout and increasing retention rates, Union Officials say. 

Workers say Preceptor Pay is key in the contract talks. 

Preceptor Pay provides Staff a wage increase for training newly-hired Employees into vacant positions. 

The Unity Living Center in Rochester Caregivers work as Certified Nursing Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, Activity Aides, Unit Secretaries and Physical Therapy Aides. 

LPN Kiara Grey-Bradley said: “We’ve been negotiating since August and management refuses to address staffing, fair pay and childcare support. When Nursing Staff are stretched thin, we are over-worked and under-paid. Recently, we had no Certified Nurse Assistant on our Specialty Unit and we were left to pass pills, do meals, provide care and do wound care. This is too much work and this is unfair. We’re standing up for our residents just as much as ourselves. The community trusts us with their loved ones. We’re asking our employer to give us the resources to care for our residents with dignity.”

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Nursing Home Workers Set To Return To Bargaining Following Unanimous Vote To Authorize Picket :: 1199SEIU