Workers at the Kentmere Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Wilmington signed a new contract with management on June 16th after nearly six months of contentious negotiations.
The 63 workers at the Wilmington nursing facility reached an agreement with the facility’s new management this month after protracted negotiations over workers’ health care plans and other benefits, as well as managements’ ability to make decisions unilaterally.
Bargaining broke down in March, prompting a four-week informational picket by workers – rather than a work stoppage, so as to continue to provide services for the facility’s residents. After a rally in support of the workers’ demands attended by local elected officials, management and workers returned to the bargaining table.
UFCW Local 27 Representative Jeffrey Hedrick says the new contract conditions include protections for workers with seniority; a quarter of the staff have worked at the facility for more than 10 years.
“We did get some agreement that meant workers who had been there for a period of time – with seniority – would not be making less money than the new workers," he said.
After unanimously ratifying the new contract on June 16th, UFCW Local 27’s membership also voted to add the facility’s licensed practical nurses to the union; whether those nurses will fall under the newly negotiated contract or a separate contract is still undetermined.
