Workers at five nursing home chains with operations in Oregon ratified new contracts in November and December.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 represents roughly 4,200 workers at 59 Oregon nursing homes owned by six companies — accounting for around half of the nursing home beds in Oregon.
The new contracts raise wages and tighten rules meant to ensure adequate staff-to-patient ratios.
Of the six nursing home chains represented by SEIU Local 503, four changed ownership in the past two years.
PACS Group Inc. took over Prestige Care right as bargaining began in 2024, so the union and new owners agreed to a one-year contract and will bargain again in 2025. The one-year contract awarded $1.41 per hour raises — bringing the starting rate for Certified Nurse Assistants up more than 6% to $23.63 — plus step increases.
CNAs at Sapphire now have the highest starting rate of the six companies, at $24.02 an hour. Avamere and Volare raised starting wages 3%, so both companies now start CNAs at $21.89 an hour. Volare workers will get another 1% raise in July. EmpRes, under new owner Evergreen, agreed to the largest raises of the six companies, bumping up starting wages for CNAs more than 9.5% to $23. Starting wages for CNAs at Meadow Park increased 5.8% to $23 per hour, while starting rates went up more than 16% for cooks and housekeepers.
Local 503 Organizing Director Sean Staub said this bargaining cycle was the first time members held informational pickets at EmpRes facilities in Portland, Salem, and Milton-Freewater.
Local 503 had planned to set up informational pickets outside three Volare Health locations on Oct. 25 in response to the company’s 2% wage increase offer, but the day before the scheduled pickets, Volare management doubled its offer to 4%. Instead, workers took their energy to informational pickets already scheduled outside EmpRes facilities, said Local 503 nursing home council president Jeri Simons.
Simons said this round of bargaining showed the most unity and power that members had shown in the seven years she’s spent as a Local 503 member and housekeeper at Volare Royale Gardens in Grants Pass. “It was like seeing a toddler walk for the first time,” she said.
Workers at Meadow Park Care and 10 nursing homes owned by Volare Health will save hundreds of dollars every month after bargaining to join the union’s healthcare trust. Volare workers were paying more than $500 each month for the employer-offered health insurance, which had poor coverage and high deductibles, Simons said. Through the healthcare trust, workers will pay just $35 per month for individual coverage.
Understaffing
The last set of contracts, negotiated in 2021, raised wages more than 60%, according to Staub. Those contracts were bargained for amid a flood of federal funding and historically high turnover caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — which is continuing to hit nursing homes, even as most of society has moved on, Staub said.
But even the significant raises in the past five years aren’t enough to keep people on the job. Staub said the nursing home industry has been suffering from burnout and high turnover caused by understaffing. Nursing homes in Oregon average 50.3% annual turnover, according to the federal agency that manages healthcare programs like Medicare. That means that over a year, half of the nursing staff leave the facility.
Oregon law requires some of the highest nursing home staff-to-patient ratios in the country, with one nursing assistant per seven residents required during the day. Nursing homes offer around-the-clock medical care, while assisted living facilities are for people who need help with daily tasks but are still somewhat independent.
High staffing ratios theoretically mean better care for patients and lower workloads for staff. But nursing homes are frequently understaffed, meaning those ratios aren’t met. State investigations at dozens of nursing home facilities in recent years have found insufficient staffing and neglect that resulted in patients taking serious falls, missing doses of medications, or not receiving adequate medical care.
The new contracts improve systems for workers to raise concerns when nursing homes don’t meet staffing ratios. EmpRes must establish staffing committees and Avamere must give workers access to more staffing information.
Which nursing homes are union? See the complete list at nwlaborpress.org/nursinghomes
