A association which runs six unionized nursing homes in Connecticut sealed out workers during the Milford trickery Tuesday, unnerving hundreds of others during the remaining five homes, who could additionally be thrown out in the holiday season after months of failed stipulate talks. While workers were sealed out during 7 a.m. Tuesday from HealthBridge Management's West River Health Care Center in Milford, alternative kinship workers nervously wondered if the same would occur in Newington, Wethersfield, Danbury, Stamford as well as Westport. Together, the six homes employ 800 members of SEIU District 1199, New England Health Care Employees. A lockout in which an employer bars employees from the workplace after the stipulate has run out is extremely rare in Connecticut, many long-time work leaders said. Several could remember only one alternative box in 2005 when the kinship had planned the strike but canceled, as well as the employer sealed them out anyway. "This is the real hardball tactic, especially this time of the year," pronounced Deborah Chernoff, the spokeswoman as well as officer during District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union. "These people have been as ruthless as they come. I've been doing this the long time." HealthBridge would not speak about the strategy, as well as would not say either workers during alternative homes will be sealed out including the Wethersfield Health Care Center as well as the Newington Health Care Center. The thought behind locking out one nursing home when six have been negotiating together is to force the entire kinship to determine to terms. It wasn't clear Tuesday how HealthBridge is managing the day-to-day duties during the Milford facility, where about 100 unionized workers were sealed out, but the association has another nursing home in Milford, the nonunion Golden Hill Health Care Center. Lisa Crutchfield, senior vice president of work relations for HealthBridge, did not respond when asked if employees during Golden Hill have been working during the kinship trickery to fill the work demand, or if managers have been handling the work, or if temporary workers have been hired. "The Centers sincerely hope the Union will recognize the seriousness of the situation as well as take steps to end the West River Health Care Center lockout as well as avoid the alternative affiliated Centers from having to consider further the lockout option for any of those Centers," Crutchfield wrote in an email to the Courant. The SEIU employees during HealthBridge have been working for 10 months without the contract. Whether the lockout will work or backfire as the strategy for the association depends largely on how employees respond to it, as well as either they have been scared by the tactic, pronounced Jonathan Cutler, the Wesleyan University sociology highbrow as well as work scholar. "It's the homogeneous of going nuclear," Cutler said, explaining which lockouts have been often used to break the kinship entirely. "They have been running the risk of totally alienating their workforce. we think it is the very aggressive magnitude as well as work unions don't take kindly to it." A certified nursing assistant who works during Newington Health Care Center told the Courant everybody is very upset about the lockout. When HealthBridge issued the threat, "I was furious. I've been working there for so long," pronounced the CNA, who asked for anonymity. An attention deputy for nursing homes pronounced HealthBridge is within the rights. "We titillate the kinship as well as the employer to stay during the bargaining table, but based on what has been reported, the facts suggest the kinship may have to make the major overture to the operator as the first step toward this end," pronounced Matthew V. Barrett, executive vice president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities. A major sticking point is cost-sharing of illness insurance, according to the union. Now, unionized employees don't compensate any premiums, as well as the association has due $7,300 the year for family coverage down from an initial proposal of some-more than $11,000 the year. The normal compensate for nursing aides in the HealthBridge homes is $15.36 an hour, as well as the rate final went up in 2009, when it increased by 50 cents an hour, Chernoff said. HealthBridge is additionally proposing which the grant be terminated. In the memo, it said, "It is not fair to the Center which we must compensate for benefit programs which have been out of hold with today's illness caring economy." Crutchfield pronounced the association does not know what the sticking points have been for the kinship because it has "failed to come up with significant or meaningful counter-proposals to the stipulate offers we gave them on Oct. 27." "Instead, they have only resubmitted pattern contracts which do not respond to the offers, as well as contain demands which have not been included in negotiations or contracts with alternative illness caring providers," Crutchfield said. Chernoff pronounced the company's proposals mean workers will be making much less, paying huge sums out of slot for illness caring or will simply opt to go without care, Chernoff said. The thought of the early retirement assets plan only works if employees make sufficient to contribute, as well as many won't, she said.
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