Linden, New Jersey Nursing Home Workers Picketed Aristacare at Delaire to Protest Cuts to Their Health Benefits and Push Management to Recognize a Fair Contract

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Aristacare operates a chain of nursing homes operating in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Linden, NJ- Nursing home workers with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East picketed Aristacare at Delaire yesterday on Wednesday, August 24, protesting proposed cuts to their health insurance and management’s refusal to recognize a fair contract. The picket was lively and well-attended and included several veterans of a 2017 strike at Aristacare at Delaire.

For photos and video of the event, use the below URL by pasting it into your web browser:

https://1199union-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/michael_carter_1199_org/EgYWNmut5-dKjTfU-Jh-ADUBwLLxutNp04SLxgavsarwPQ?e=VEXebd

Darlene Brown, who has worked for 30 years as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Aristacare at Delaire, said: “I care deeply for the residents under my care, which is why I became a CNA. Ever since Aristacare took over in 2017, they’ve been trying to cut corners wherever they can. Now, they are back to their old ways, and as union members, we aren’t going to take it and allow the standards of care at Delaire to go down. We already are often short-staffed, and now they want to raise the price of our health insurance and not offer us the real wage increases we badly need due to inflation? We demand that management be fair to us, the ones actually providing the care day in and day out on the floor.”

Congressman Donald Payne, (D-NJ), who represents the area, said: “I appreciate the service that AristaCare provides for the seniors at the Delaire Nursing Home in Linden, but I hope company officials realize that the facility’s care is only as good as the workers who provide it. Those workers need to be respected and compensated in a manner that is conducive to the services they provide. I am encouraged to know that contract negotiations are still ongoing and I hope company officials and union representatives negotiate a fair and equitable contract soon.”