Steady Habits: A CT Mirror Podcast
News:Politics
Nursing home workers and Connecticut are still at an impasse over a new contract. The state’s largest health care union has said it will strike as soon as Friday at 26 homes, with other strikes possible in the following weeks.
Workers are asking for a pay raise, to $20 an hour, a hike of as much as 33%. The union said that could cost the state more than $200 million per year.
And nursing home operators say they need more than $300 million just to cover losses and cost increases from the pandemic.
The Lamont administration has made what it calls its “last and best offer” to the union. The Governor’s proposal includes $280 million additional funding over two years:
The Lamont administration pointed out that their package is about four times the increase that nursing homes normally get.
But Keith Phaneuf, who covers the state budget for The Connecticut Mirror, said those numbers are deceiving. “Over the last 14 years, nursing homes have probably gotten a 1% increase on average,” he said. “So it's not that hard to beat that, fourfold.”
Phaneuf said workers have cited difficult and dangerous working conditions, and not enough staffing during the pandemic, which hit state nursing homes hard.
He said some Democratic lawmakers are pushing the administration to acknowledge that the mostly Black and Latino workers have been hailed as “heroes” over the last year.
“Senator Gary Winfield, the Democrat from New Haven really kind of summed it up well, he said, you know, you can give folks all these accolades, but there's no equity without revenue,” Phaneuf said.
“Meaning unless the state puts its dollars behind these types of statements like Black Lives Matter and nursing home workers are heroes. They're empty statements,” he said.
4,000 employees could go out on strike over the next few weeks. You can read more from the Connecticut Mirror at ctmirror.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tom Condon on the resettlement of Afghan refugees in CT
Budget guru Keith Phaneuf breaks down Connecticut's cash problem
Keith Phaneuf on the battle to frame Connecticut's state finances
Tom Condon on Fredric March and the Ku Klux Klan
Dave Altimari on a CT Mirror investigation and the cancelation of state hazmat contracts
Jan Ellen Spiegel on changes that could be coming to state solar programs
Katy Golvala on a rise in traffic fatalities during the pandemic
Tom Condon on racial disparities in police traffic stops
Mark Pazniokas explains a key memo in the Kosta Diamantis case
The Political Year Ahead with Susan Bigelow, Dan Haar and Jonathan Wharton
Keith Phaneuf on Connecticut's Fiscal Health
Mark Pazniokas and the Politics of 2022
Would Shrinking The Supreme Court Help Build Consensus?
Outflanked To The Right: Linda Greenhouse Considers The Roberts Court
CT Legislative Wrap Up: Yes To Legal Weed; No To New Taxes, Climate Change Bill
Redistricting in CT: How to Draw a Better Map
Finding Mental Health Solutions For CT Kids
Single Moms Hit Hardest By Pandemic
Transforming Hartford Part 2: Trains, Bikes, Parks, And "Place"
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free