Release: Over 4,000 Union Workers Win Strong Contracts at 45 Nursing Homes Across Pennsylvania

Posted on

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Contacts: Emily Dong, 267-761-1502, emily.dong@seiuhcpa.org

 

Over 4,000 Union Workers Win Strong Contracts at 45 Nursing Homes Across Pennsylvania 

The new union contracts, ratified over the past two months, secure raises, training opportunities, and secure retirement to combat industry instability and impact of impending Medicaid cuts

Statewide – Over the past two months, 4,000 nursing home workers across Pennsylvania who are union members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania have won new union contracts which invest in wages, secure retirement, and training opportunities. The workers at 45 nursing homes overwhelmingly ratified the new contract agreements with standards designed to solve workforce challenges in the face of industry instability and impending Medicaid cuts.

“We went into negotiations being realistic about our needs and moving caregivers forward,” said Jeannine Horner, a certified nursing assistant at Windber Woods in Windber, Pennsylvania. “This contract addressed those needs: Quality raises in a time of unstable funding. With the improvements to wage scales, raises, and dependent coverage for health insurance, this sets our facility up to be able to recruit and retain staff.”

The newly-ratified contracts span 45 homes, including 27 facilities at providers involved in the new industry-labor partnership between SEIU Healthcare PA and the Pennsylvania Health Care Association. Highlights of the various contract agreements include:

  • Across-the-board wage increases for nursing and support staff
  • Secure retirement plans
  • Training and education opportunities for skills enhancement, including incentives to achieve certified nursing assistant and licensed practical nurse certifications 

These victories come as part of a broader effort by over 7,000 union nursing home workers who, at the beginning of the year, committed to use their expiring union contracts at more than 90 homes to raise care and job standards, protect residents from potential Medicaid cuts, combat instability across the long-term care industry, and fight for greater investment in bedside care.

“I’m proud of our new contract because it helps us work toward our shared goal of our residents receiving the best care,” said Cheila Martinez, a certified nursing assistant and housekeeper at Spruce Manor in Reading, a Saber-operated facility with one of the labor-industry partnership’s first collective bargaining agreements. “My message to nursing home owners refusing to raise standards is: Our residents deserve a safe, clean, and stable home. We, the workers, need the support to give them the care they deserve.”

The contracts come at a time when nursing home worker turnover also remains a major challenge. Caregivers cite burnout, poor pay, and short staffing as top reasons for leaving the field. The Commonwealth expects 1 in 3 Pennsylvanians to be over 65 years old by 2030. Yet, Pennsylvania has lost 31 nursing homes since 2021, and more closures are expected. 

“These contracts are a critical step forward for workers and for every Pennsylvanian who relies on nursing home care,” said Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “The Medicaid cuts make this exact kind of investment more important. Union workers are leading the way in valuing this care and protecting residents, and it’s time for every operator and the Commonwealth to follow their lead.”

Facilities with new contract agreements include:

  • Ambler Extended Care Center (Ambler)
  • Armstrong Rehab & Nursing Center (Kittanning)
  • Beaver Valley Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Beaver Falls)
  • Broad Mountain Health and Rehab (Frackville)
  • Bryn Mawr Extended Care Center (Bryn Mawr)
  • Care Pavilion Nursing and Rehab (Philadelphia)
  • Chapel Manor (Philadelphia)
  • Charles Morris Nursing & Rehabilitation (Pittsburgh)
  • Crestview Center (Langhorne)
  • Dunmore Health Care Center (Dunmore)
  • Elan Skilled Nursing and Rehab (Scranton)
  • Embassy of East Mountain (Wilkes-Barre)
  • Embassy of Hearthside (State College)
  • Embassy of Hillsdale (Hillsdale)
  • Embassy of Park Avenue (Meadville)
  • Embassy of Scranton (Scranton)
  • Embassy of Tunkhannock (Tunkhannock)
  • Embassy of Woodland Park (Orbisonia)
  • Embassy of Wyoming Valley (Wilkes-Barre)
  • Green Meadows Rehabilitation and Nursing (Malvern)
  • Greene Health and Rehab (Greensburg)
  • Harmar Village Care Center (Cheswick)
  • Harmon House Care Center (Mount Pleasant)
  • Hilltop Heights Health and Rehab (Johnstown)
  • Julia Ribaudo Extended Care Center (Lake Ariel)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at Cheswick (Cheswick)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at North Strabane (Canonsburg)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at Irwin (North Huntingdon)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at Washington (Washington)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at New Castle (New Castle)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at Harmony (Harmony)
  • Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing at Lititz (Lititz)
  • Kittanning Care Center (Kittanning)
  • Langhorne Gardens Health and Rehab (Langhorne)
  • Mountain City Nursing and Rehab (Hazleton)
  • Providence Health and Rehab (Beaver Falls)
  • Slate Belt Health and Rehab (Bangor)
  • Spruce Manor Nursing and Rehab (West Reading)
  • WeCare at Monroeville (Monroeville)
  • WeCare at Mount Lebanon (Pittsburgh)
  • WeCare at Murrysville (Murrysville)
  • Westgate Hills Rehabilitation & Nursing Center (Havertown)
  • Whitestone Care Center (Stroudsburg)
  • The Williamsport Home (Williamsport)
  • Windber Woods Senior Living & Rehabilitation Center (Windber)

Remaining negotiations include nursing homes operated by Priority Healthcare, where union members were forced to strike unfair labor practices in 2022.

 

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SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and healthcare workers, uniting tens of thousands of professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home- and community-based services, and state facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians. 

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