Union members and representatives of UFCW Local 342 rallied outside Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home at 41-41 201st St. in Bayside on Sept. 12, demanding a fair contract and safer working conditions.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Union members and representatives of UFCW Local 342 rallied outside Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home at 41-41 201st St. in Bayside on Sept. 12, demanding a fair contract and safer working conditions.
The over 200 Ozanam workers, which include licensed professional nurses (LPN), certified nursing assistants (CNA), dietary aides, and service and maintenance workers, have been without a contract for over a year.
Besides higher wages, workers are asking for retirement benefits after their pension benefits were frozen in 2021 and affordable health care that lowers out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, they want Ozanam to address understaffing at the nursing facility, which leads to safety issues for personnel and patients.
According to Tanisha Williamson, recording secretary of UFCW Local 342, the union received numerous complaints from union members that three CNAs have to take care of 50 patients with varying degrees of needs, including bathing and feeding.
“Sometimes [CNAs] don’t take their breaks out of fear that they’re not going to get to attend to the residents,” Williamson explained. “Because they care for the residents and their needs, often putting [the residents’ needs] before their own.”
Margaret Lumaque has worked at Ozanam Hall, a 432-bed facility, for over 20 years and is also a member of the contract negotiating team. Lumaque said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff often stayed at the facility because they didn’t want to jeopardize their families and held the hands of dying residents because their families were not allowed to visit.
“We need a fair contract to be able to survive and take care of our family,” Lumaque said. “We’ve been working so many times with less people. We are short…
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