*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Nursing home caregivers lose their jobs after the Assembly fails to protect the beleaguered workforce from unscrupulous employers

New Jersey—Just as nursing home staffing levels reach critical lows amid the pandemic, the Assembly leadership failed to post a bill for a floor vote on the last day of the legislative session that would have prevented healthcare employers from cutting staff and slashing wages and benefits during acquisitions.

S-4048/A-6015, passed yesterday in the Senate but abruptly killed in the Assembly after being withheld from a floor vote, would have required purchasers of healthcare facilities to retain staff and maintain job standards for a period of six months after purchase. The bill had moved through its committee hearings in both houses without issue late last year.

Over the past year, private equity firms have been buying up numerous skilled nursing facilities across New Jersey, slashing workers’ pay and benefits without notice and causing an exodus of employees at the very moment they are needed more than ever.

The most recent example happened three days after Christmas. On December 28, Complete Care Management, a private-equity backed nursing home chain that is now the largest operator in New Jersey, took over at Milford Manor nursing home in West Milford.

The company terminated overnight the employment of every CNA, dietary aide, and housekeeper who was directly employed by the facility and represented by 1199SEIU—a clear attempt to avoid union recognition and a violation of federal labor law—including caregivers with decades of service at the nursing home. 1199SEIU has filed suit and is demanding immediate reinstatement of the workers.

Among those who lost their jobs is Evelyn Morse, a certified nursing assistant who had worked at Milford Manor for 43 years: “I was in a state of shock and felt so belittled when I was told not to come back to work. It was as if all my 43 years meant absolutely nothing. I loved my residents, I loved taking care of them. They were like my best friends and I was theirs. I know they’re upset that I’m not there anymore. The day after I was let go, a former co-worker told me that there were only four CNAs working on one side of the building to take care of 61 residents. We were let go with no regard to the danger our residents were left in.”

The situation at Milford Manor comes on the heels of numerous other acquisitions that have caused workers to lose their livelihoods. Just after Thanksgiving, some 60 workers at Amboy Care Center in Perth Amboy (re-named Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center) lost their affordable health insurance and other benefits after the nursing home was purchased by Allaire Health Services. In November, workers at Complete Care at Marcella in Burlington Twp. and Complete Care at Green Knoll in Bridgewater went on a 24-hour strike to protest unfair labor practices and lack of affordable benefits after their new employer gutted their jobs. Workers at Cranford Nursing and Rehab in Cranford and Rehab at River’s Edge in Raritan are currently in federal court fighting to prevent their potential new operator, Atlas Healthcare, from slashing benefits.

“It is inexcusable for our Assembly leadership to kill a bill on the last day of the legislative session that is urgently needed to protect our state’s healthcare workforce in a time of great need,” said Leilani Montes, a Vice President at 1199SEIU. “The turmoil that Complete Care Management and other private equity actors are causing within the nursing home industry is making a dire staffing situation even worse. We are grateful for the leadership of Sen. Joe Vitale, Asm. Wayne DeAngelo, and others who have championed this legislation, and we urge passage of the bill in this new session without delay.”

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in New Jersey and nationwide. We represent over 16,000 healthcare families in New Jersey and over 450,000 total members throughout New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, D.C.   Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.