(November 18, 2020, CHICAGO) — Frontline nursing home workers from 11 Infinity-owned facilities organized a Zoom press conference and in-person event with family members of residents and by senior advocates to demand a fair contract in order to avoid having to go on strike on Monday, November 23rd if workers’ demands are not met.

Those reasonable and basic demands include being safe on the job and being respected for serving on the frontlines of the pandemic, such as more personal protective equipment (PPE), a $15 starting wage for all nursing home workers, COVID-19 hazard pay, and an end to short staffing.

The workers, members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, delivered strike notices at 11 Chicago-area facilities late last week with a strike start date of November 23rd. The frontline, majority black and brown workers made the difficult decision to call a strike after months of bargaining in which management failed to bargain in good faith and ignored their calls for pandemic pay and living wages as the spread of the virus not only extends but surges into record breaking numbers.