Published: October 21, 2015

Agreement Includes Safety Provisions for Nursing Home Residents, Workers

Meadow Park Health and Specialty Care workers defeated potentially dangerous proposals from Fortis (Meadow Park Management) and succeeded in reaching a tentative agreement that will support Meadow Park resident and worker safety.

Meadow Park workers had been deeply concerned about resident safety issues from management’s initial proposals, which included forced overtime policies and limitations on workers’ ability to coordinate care from one shift to the next. Management’s agreement to back off these proposals allowed workers to cancel a strike that had been unanimously authorized by workers.

“We felt strongly that the administration’s original proposals weren’t healthy for workers and weren’t safe for residents,” said Fay Westfall, certified nursing assistant at Meadow Park. “Workers stood up for what was right, and got the administration to back off the provisions that could dangerously impact our residents.”

In addition to preserving resident safety, workers also secured a 4% wage increase each year of the two-year agreement, raising certified nursing assistants’ average wage of $13/hour to more than $14/hour in 2017. The wage increase demonstrates a commitment to compensating workers fairly for the challenging work they do, while ensuring that Meadow Park can continue to recruit and retain quality workers.

Congratulations to Meadow Park workers for this exciting victory!