Healthcare Workers Protest Proposed Benefit Cuts

Dozens of employees of a Mt. Prospect Avenue nursing home picketed the facility Wednesday in response to proposed cuts to their health benefits and stalled contract talks.

Many of the 80 members of 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East were joined by members of other activist groups as well as elected officials for the “informational picket” held at the Forest Hill Healthcare Center. The union represents dietary aides, certified nurse assistants, housekeepers and other caregivers, many of whom earn between $11 and $12 an hour.

The workers’ wages have remained flat since their last contract expired in June 2011. 

Patricia Matthews, 47, a nurse’s assistant whose husband is recovering from cancer, said that at one point, management asked some workers to voluntarily surrender their benefits so the rest could have fully funded plans.

“Take away my benefits and I would not be able to afford his medication and his nutrition,” said Matthews, who also has a teen daughter in need of vision care.

“It is unconscionable that the women and men who care for some of the sickest and most vulnerable people in Newark have to fight for basic necessities and living wages,” Milly Silva, an 1199 SEIU official, said in a statement.

Elected officials including Assemblyman Albert Couthino, Essex County Freeholder Brendan Gill and Newark municipal council members Luis Quintana and Anibal Ramos also appeared Wednesday to support the picketers.

“As ward councilman, I can attest to the value of having Forest Hill in our community, as your job is to care for some of the most needy people in our city,” said Ramos. “I stand here with you for good benefits and fair wages.”

A security guard refused to allow a reporter to enter the complex. A call placed to the facility’s management was not returned.