«Nursing home workers in Washington state have come back from the White House with renewed resolve to fight for their union contract. A delegation of SEIU members was in Washington, D.C., last week to meet with the Biden-Harris administration.
Gurnesh Chetty, medications manager for Aegis Ravenna in Seattle and is a member of SEIU 775, said members of the administration encouraged him to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over contract negotiations with his employer.
‘Even we were told that a lot of big corporations like Aegis, what they do is, they intentionally start letting go of employees that do support the union or want a union,’ Chetty said.
Chetty and his coworkers voted to form a union in March 2023, but the union has yet to secure its first contract. A spokesperson for Aegis Living says its objective is to ‘foster a strong and unified team environment,’ and that it’s proud of its 2,700 employees serving 2,500 residents.
Chetty said working at Aegis can be stressful, which is why workers formed a union.
«We’ve been understaffed. We’ve been asking for more staffing, better pay, better retention of employees. People work there about three to six months and they end up leaving, because the employees aren’t taken care of.»
Gurnesh Chetty
Chetty added retention is especially important in a nursing home setting.
‘Once you form a relationship with the resident and then, you know exactly what they want, you know exactly what time they prefer things, it makes it better and easier and convenient for them, where they’re happier,’ he continued.»