Home health nurses who work at a Flushing long-term care provider are planning to go on strike next week after months of failed contract negotiations that they say led their employer to unlawfully terminate their health coverage.
Centerlight, which provides home-based services to older New Yorkers and people with chronic illnesses, did not renew health insurance plans for 70 home health nurses at the start of this year because of a stalemate in contract negotiations, according to the New York State Nurses Association. The nurses, whose contract ended in September, have been pushing their employer to come back to the negotiating table and reinstate their coverage, but bargaining has continued to stall, the union said.
Nurses sent a strike notice to Centerlight late last week outlining their plan to walk out on April 14 if their employer does not reach an agreement that restores their health benefits, which they say has led to unsafe working conditions for patients.
“We have delayed visiting doctors when sick, have unfilled prescriptions, and are constantly worried we might get hurt or get one of our patients sick—I feel like I’m living in a nightmare,” Reena Pradhan Singh, a nurse at Centerlight, said in a statement.
A representative from Centerlight declined to comment for this article.
Nurses have been negotiating with Centerlight for more than six months to increase pay and boost working conditions. Negotiations stalled after the nurses rejected multiple proposals put forth by their employer, which they said terminated coverage under their old health plan and increased premium costs by 400%, according to the union. After the nurses rejected Centerlight’s proposals, the provider failed to extend their coverage and the union filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.
Centerlight has accused the nurses of refusing to bargain in good faith, with Chief Administrative Officer David Silva previously telling Crain’s that the union rejected a short-term proposal that would have extended health coverage as negotiations continued. The provider also offered to pay for nurses’ health benefits through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA, which allows people to keep employer-based health insurance, but the union turned down its proposal.
The home health provider says that it is unable to meet the union’s request to increase wages, and is asking nurses to contribute between $100 and $400 per month for health insurance – up from the $21 monthly premium they paid previously, according to Silva.
