Conn. Healthcare Workers Strike Tentative Minimum Wage Deal
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Healthcare workers struck a tentative deal that, if approved, will raise the minimum wage for some certified nursing assistants in the Connecticut to $15 per hour.
The tentative deal will stop a threatened strike at 20 nursing homes in the state.
If ratified, the agreement will cover 2,600 workers at facilities owned by iCare and Genesis.
On Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a raise in minimum wage for state workers in New York over the next several years. Other industries, including healthcare and fast food workers, held rallies in Manhattan and Brooklyn calling for a faster applications of the minimum wage requirement, over a broader span of industries.
Jennifer Schneider, communications director for SEIU 1199, said Wednesday the $15 minimum wage for nursing assistants will now be a goal for future negotiations with other nursing home companies.
In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio struck a deal with SEIU 1199 and the New York State Nurses Association, which included savings on health care and pay raises, as well as the institution of a child care and elder care dependent fund and a fund for new employee training.
The union is currently negotiating on behalf of workers at seven homes owned by Paradigm Healthcare.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration began meeting this summer with union officials to find a fair way of distributing $26 million in additional state and federal funds, in each of the next two years, to union- and non-union homes.
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