Around 1,000 nursing home workers strike for higher pay, better working conditions

The Service Employees International Union estimates about 1,000 nurses and employees from a dozen nursing home facilities in the state went on a one-day, Unfair Labor Practice strike Tuesday. 

A couple hundred nursing home employees from various facilities rallied outside The Estates at St. Louis Park Tuesday morning, while others took part in early-morning picketing outside Cerenity Senior Care in St. Paul, Providence Place in Minneapolis, Saint Therese Senior Living in New Hope and The Estates at Roseville. 

Jamie Gulley, president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, said it’s the largest nursing home strike in state history.

“We have been working short, too long. We worked through the pandemic, and we were essential and we expect to be paid and respected for the work that we have done for this community and for the residents every single day,” Gulley said. 

The workers are asking for a minimum wage of $25 an hour and more staffing. 

Jared Mituga is a registered nurse at The Estates at St. Louis Park and said he’s worked there for 23 years. He said he and others feel overworked and underpaid. 

“They are disrespecting us because they don't value us. So for us to be valued, we expect that they pay us, protect us and give us better wages and better benefits,” Mituga said. “For us to give the patient the care they need, you have to have a better staffing ratio,” he said.

Marc Halpert is CEO of Monarch Healthcare Management, the company that manages The Estates chain. He said there are daily chats with employees. 

“My personal job is to make sure that my staff are happy. And whether that's wages or benefits, or, you know, not being overworked, that's been my goal for nine years. And it's really tough,” Halpert said. 

Halpert said he didn’t have information about the nurse-to-patient ratio at The Estates in St. Louis Park, but said they were fully staffed Tuesday despite the walkouts. 

“We were able to bring in other members from our other facilities, we do have 62 facilities throughout the state of Minnesota that we manage,” he said. 

Halpert said of the hundreds who rallied outside The Estates at St. Louis Park, he believes 17 were employees of the facility.

Teresa Brees said she works in laundry at The Estates in Roseville and has been there for a little more than five years. 

Brees said she wants a livable wage, better healthcare, and safer work conditions. 

“I tore my bicep tendon here working 23 days straight in housekeeping. I was in housekeeping at that time. And there were two housekeepers to clean this whole facility and take care of 120 residents,” Brees said. 

Christine Ciepielinski is a licensed practical nurse at The Estates at St. Louis Park who works on the dementia unit. She was one of a couple hundred who picketed outside The Estates nursing home in St. Louis Park.

Ciepielinski said she enjoys her job, but staffing shortages are making it tough.

“We are constantly working short; I am always there to help my nursing assistants because I can't leave them in the weeds to do all of the work. If I have to take somebody to the bathroom, if I have to give a shower, if I have to clean up the dining room, if I have to take laundry down, whatever it is that I have to do for the day to help make sure that the shift gets done,” she said. 

When asked about staffing shortages, Halpert said the company has not been able to rebound since losing employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We have up to $10,000 sign-on bonuses to find staff. We are out there. We are competitive. We are marketing. We are advertising, we are trying to find people,” he said. “The state of Minnesota has a shortage of healthcare workers. Through immigration and through other ways, we're all trying to bring people in as fast as we can.” 

Halpert said it’s not impossible for employees to reach $25 an hour without help from the state, but he called it unreasonable. 

“Over the nine years that I've been with Monarch, to get $25 an hour, would shut down the facilities within six months,” he said. “I would love to give them what they're asking for. We just have to make sure that it's reasonable and that we can make it happen.” 

Service Employees International Union officials say they hope to gain wage and benefit concessions this month.