A union representing nursing home workers is agreeing to a request from Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy to postpone a planned strike in 20 communities.
About 3,500 members of SEIU 1199 New England planned to strike April 24 at facilities owned by iCare, Genesis and Paradigm.
Malloy spokesman Mark Bergman said on Tuesday the chief of staff contacted the union and nursing home owners, asking them to agree to a cooling off period as the administration and General Assembly craft a final budget agreement.
Matthew Barrett, executive vice president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, said it's "very challenging" to address employee requests for higher wages and benefits given the instability of Medicaid funding in the pending budget.
The union says it's committed to fighting for fair wages.
“We have received a request from the Governor’s Office to postpone our impending nursing home strike. We appreciate the outreach of his office and discussed the request with our members,” Jennifer Schneider, union spokeswoman for SEIU 1199, New England, said in a statement. “While our members remain committed to fighting for a fair wage they have agreed to postpone the strike. It is our hope that the Governor and legislators take this opportunity to make a fair wage for caregivers and quality care for residents a top priority in the budget.”
