***In-Person Press Conference at 3:30 PM CT and
Zoom Press Conference at 4:30 PM CT, Monday, April 27***

Workers at Nursing Homes Across Illinois
to Release Results of Strike Vote
After Weeks of Putting Their Lives at Risk on the Coronavirus Frontline—and Having Their Demands for Essential Resources, Practices and Information Largely Ignored by Facility Owners—Workers Are Increasingly Prepared to #StrikeforOurLives and the Lives of Residents

CHICAGO — Representatives of more than 10,000 nursing home workers across 100 Illinois nursing homes will announce the results of strike votes they’ve been conducting in their workplaces as their pleas to nursing home owners for improved PPE, enhanced safety protocols, appropriate hazard pay and base compensation, sufficient paid time off for coronavirus-related illness, increased staffing levels, protection of their healthcare coverage, and transparency about COVID-19 cases and risks at their facilities have gone largely ignored.

In recent weeks, workers have delivered dozens of letters to management, made public appeals through online videos, petitions and media interviews, and conducted multiple group meetings with supervisors all with the goal of convincing nursing home owners to take comprehensive measures to address the safety and well-being of workers and residents during this unprecedented time of crisis.

The current bargaining contract covering these facilities is set to expire on May 1—and at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, workers were originally hopeful that the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities would agree to a one-year agreement with modest and reasonable accommodations to address the extreme risks and challenges workers now face as a result of working on the frontlines of a pandemic.

The refusal of owners to agree to modest provisions for wage increases and safety measures—together with widespread problems across these homes related to PPE shortages, lack of transparent disclosure of COVID-19 risks, inadequate training on safety protocols, lack of hazard pay, increasing shortages in staffing levels, and difficulty with taking needed time off for workers with symptoms, COVID-19 exposure or high-risk levels due to underlying health conditions—drove workers to start conducting strike votes as a last resort measure to win the measures and resources needed to protect themselves and the vulnerable residents for which they provide daily, hands-on care.

WHAT:
Nursing home workers will announce the results of their strike votes at facilities across Illinois area via two events.

WHEN and WHERE:
Nursing Home Workers will announce strike vote results via
TWO PRESS events
on Monday, April 27

3:30 PM CTIn-Person Press Conference
Outside Alden Wentworth
201 W 69th St, Chicago, IL 60621

4:30 PM CT
Zoom Press Conference
RSVP required to be sent a link to participate in Zoom Press Conference. You can record the press conference—simply request permission to record at the beginning of the event.

To RSVP, send email to catherine.murrell@seiuhcil.org and you will be sent a link to the event by 3:30 p.m. CT

WHO: 
Nursing Home workers who are serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis at facilities across Illinois, joined by Greg Kelley, President, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, for the Zoom press conference and by Shaba Andrich, Vice President for Nursing Homes, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, for the in-person press conference at Alden Wentworth