FEDERAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST NURSING HOME
O'Connor Woods Management Continues Pattern of Unfair Labor Practices
STOCKTON – Caregivers at O'Connor Woods, an assisted living and skilled nursing facility operated by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, have filed a series of charges against management over ongoing violations of federal labor laws, which threaten the care of residents at the Stockton retirement community. The latest charge was filed Tuesday.
Caregivers represented by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West filed multiple Unfair Labor Practices charges against O'Connor Woods, which is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. The charges cover a variety of unlawful activities, including failing to bargain in good faith, intimidating caregivers, holding mandatory anti-union meetings, and, in one instance, ordering one employee removed from the property because she spoke to co-workers about contract bargaining—a legally protected right. Perhaps most outrageously, Executive Director Scot Sinclair has tried to enlist the facility's residents in the administration's anti-Union campaign.
"It's shameful that O'Connor Woods would rather break the law than treat its own workers with the respect we deserve," said Doris Chapman, who has worked as a housekeeper at the facility for 16 years. "Rather than address the poverty-level wages, outrageously high health insurance costs, and ensuring that frontline caregivers have a voice in the care provided at O'Connor Woods, managers are trying to silence us."
The charges fit the pattern of poor treatment of caregivers by the facility's management, which fought tooth and nail against workers who voted for union representation in 2005. Since then, the National Labor Relations Board has found O'Connor Woods to have been in violation of federal law. Despite written settlements with the federal government that it would discontinue its unlawful activities, the charges filed today assert that O'Connor Woods has not complied with those assurances.
This behavior stands in stark contrast to the healthy relationships that many other Catholic-sponsored hospitals and nursing homes have established with their employees' unions. SEIU UHW represents thousands of caregivers at facilities run by the Daughters of Charity Health System and Catholic Healthcare West, among other organizations.
"Most Catholic-sponsored health systems recognize the role that unions can play in improving both the lives of caregivers and the lives of residents and patients," said John Borsos, administrative vice president of SEIU UHW. "We are extremely disappointed that this employer continues to fight unlawfully the O'Connor Woods caregivers' efforts to climb out of poverty."
Caregivers at O'Connor Woods are seeking an agreement that is comparable to those reached with other nursing home operators throughout California.
"All we're after is respect," said Tonya Walker, a nurse's assistant. "Treat us fairly, pay us what we're worth and let us participate in the decisions that will improve the lives of our residents. That's why we work here in the first place."
