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Sonoma Healthcare Center Workers, Community Residents to March for Justice, Fair Treatment at Local Nursing Home

Posted on: Saturday, 23 July 2005, 12:00 CDT

SONOMA, Calif., July 23 /PRNewswire/ --

When: Saturday, July 23, 2005 3:30 p.m. Where: Meet at City of Sonoma Plaza Sonoma, CA

Sonoma Healthcare Center caregivers will join community members in a march and rally to defend the Sonoma area against the Ensign Group's (owner of Sonoma Healthcare Center) alleged anti-union and discriminatory behavior towards their staff and to stand up for improved resident care. On May 24, 2002, a majority of Sonoma Healthcare Center workers voted to form a union to have a stronger voice in decisions that affect facility residents, their staff and their families.

In the three years since the union election occurred, the Ensign Group has used a variety of tactics to intimidate employees who support their union and avoid settling a contract. In August 2004, a judge ruled in favor of Sonoma Healthcare Center employees and told management that they needed to recognize the union and begin to negotiate a first contract. Yet the Ensign Group continues to attempt to undermine their workers' efforts to unionize and improve patient care. Their most recent endeavor has been enlisting the Department of Health Services to investigate union activists and patient care whistleblowers of Mexican descent.

Ensign's substandard patient care track record is alarming to communities across the state. Ensign's facilities amassed 78% more care violations in a recent reporting period than the average California nursing home, according to an analysis published by Nursing Home Watch, a statewide coalition, in August 2004. Their care record in California includes quality lapses that have led to: resident injuries and deaths, gangrenous bed sores, residents forced to lie in their own feces and urine while waiting for care, severe weight loss, medication errors and numerous other episodes of resident suffering.

"My co-workers and I are participating in this march because there is so much injustice here for the workers and the residents of Sonoma Healthcare Center," said Glori Betancourt, certified nursing assistant. "I love the work that I do and I want to stay here, but I also want to be treated fairly. We know our rights, we know we are not being respected on the job and we know it is totally unjust for the Mexican descent workers who are union activists to find themselves the sole targets of investigations by the Department of Health Services. If our employer will stop their discrimination and settle a contract, it'll also help our residents -- with a contract in place, caregivers will have a greater ability to advocate for residents and will be happier and more eager to stick around. Staff turnover is a huge problem for our nursing home, and we believe that through a union and a fair contract, we can encourage the quality caregivers to continue to work here."

SEIU United Healthcare Workers - West, with more than 140,000 members, is the largest and most powerful healthcare union in the Western U.S. We represent every type of healthcare worker, including nursing, professional, technical and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high quality healthcare for all.

Media Contact:

Thea Lavin 510-520-7732

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West

CONTACT: Thea Lavin of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West,+1-510-520-7732

Web site: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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