On February 5th and 6th, we went back to the table in Harrisburg with Golden Living Centers (GLC) and Extendicare.
On the 5th, members from GLC started their day with a lively action at the state capital where they joined with students, seniors, and others to demand that Governor Corbett pass a budget that provides adequate funding for healthcare, schools, and other vital services. Then in the afternoon we met with GLC management and exchanged proposals.
Golden Living Center
GLC started the day with their opening statement indicating their intent to settle a fair contract as quickly as possible. The company stated it did not intend to demand major changes or concessions and hoped to move forward back to fully focusing on caring for residents. This was welcome news for the committee, though the proof is always in the details and their proposals. “Bargaining has been productive and better than we thought. We are moving along,” said Darlene Henry from GLC William Penn, “The work we’ve been doing in our facilities is paying off. ”
At the end of two days, the committee was pleased with the progress made – signing off on a number of management’s proposals that were mostly local issues or “cleanup” of contract language. Management proposed to maintain current status with our healthcare and training funds. We are still pushing for improvements to our healthcare and all other economic proposals with bargaining continuing in February.
Extendicare
As much as our GLC members were pleasantly surprised with management’s tone of cooperation and respect, Extendicare members were confronted with management’s refusal to bargain in one location for all the facilities. The day was spent arguing about this issue and determining dates to go forward. Extendicare members pledged to be All In for each other and will continue bargaining on February 13th.