Rosewood nursing home staff demands experience pay, free coverage

Rosewood nursing home staff demands experience pay, free coverage 
Times Union, Rensselaer, NY; by Jim Franco; 7/11/24 
A group of Rosewood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center workers, represented by a national health care union, is demanding a new contract with higher wages for more experienced workers and a union-provided health insurance plan that would be fully paid by their employers. ... The workers, members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, say a contract with the experience pay and no-cost health care coverage would help address staff shortages at the facility. The union, which has an office in East Greenbush, cites federal Department of Health and Human Services data showing total nursing staff turnover at the facility is 61.8 percent, higher than the national average of 52 percent and the New York average of 44.7 percent.
Editor's Note: The reasons identified for this staff strike are consistent with other nursing/healthcare strikes across the nation: pay, benefits, staff shortages. Additionally, this facility's nursing staff turnover of 61.8 percent likely impacts--negatively--patient safety, another key factor for recent nursing strikes.