Caregivers at McMurray Hills Manor are proposing contract improvements to ensure standards of care at their nursing home.
McMURRAY, PA – Caregivers at McMurray Hills Manor held an informational picket outside their nursing home on Monday, June 17, to call on management to respect their work, pay fair wages, and provide more training opportunities so that they can provide the best care to their residents.
“I love this place, the people I work with, and the residents I care for,” said Mary Ellen Amos, LPN and union chapter president at McMurray Hills Manor. “That’s why I’m out here today – to fight for all of it!
I want to make this a better place to work so that the best people want to work here and stay here. That’s how we provide the best care for the people inside who need us.”
Workers at McMurray Hills Manor are fighting to maintain the high standards of care their residents have come to rely on as they negotiate a new contract with nursing home administrators. At issue are cuts to scheduled wage increases, a draconian attendance policy that penalizes workers for using sick days they have earned, and other issues that would lower job standards at the home. Delivering the best care to residents means having the best staff to deliver that care.
Today’s picket comes while nursing home care in the state is under increased scrutiny. Earlier this week, a national advocacy group gave Pennsylvania nursing homes a failing grade, ranking the state 46th for care.
That’s why nursing homes like McMurray Hills Manor should be investing in their facilities and their workers, not making cuts and creating policies that drive down job standards.
“If the administration doesn’t start thinking about how it can respect us and invest in us then we aren’t going to be able to hire the new people we need,” continued Amos.