There are only 400 people paying the bills
Posted by Patti on April 19th, 2007 / Print This Post
Tension between residents and unions:
The residents themselves are unhappy about the labor tension, said Donald Gerber, 76, president of the resident council. Gerber said the employees are not nursing-home workers - the facility offers independent living and some skilled care - so it’s not fair for them to expect comparable wages.Besides, he said, the retirement home doesn’t accept Medi-Cal, so the 400 residents are paying rent from their own savings and pensions. The monthly rents are in the $2,000 to $4,000 range, Gerber said.
“If the prices go up much more here, we’ll be forced to move out of O’Connor Woods and get an apartment somewhere,” said Gerber, a former Corte Madera resident who moved to Stockton because of the costs at Bay Area retirement homes. “The union could easily put O’Connor Woods out of business. There are only 400 people paying the bills. The union doesn’t get that.”
Now this is just plain sad, that residents have to live with fear because of union/employer politics and tactics. I truly believe unions serve no good purpose anymore.
April 20th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Hey Patti…missed you. Where have you been??
If you had shared the rest of this article we would see how the nursing home is being investigated for unfair labor practices- which is what this is really about. I feel bad for the residents who feel fear- but if they want quality care, they must be willing to pay for it. And we don’t know how much profit this nursing home is taking in. Probably not too much as it’s run by the Sisters and it’s private.
One thing for sure is at work here- competition. If the residents don’t like it, or want to pay, they can afford to move out and force the home to close. So yes, a union can do itself in when we think about it.
April 20th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Been here there and alitte bit everywhere. LOL…
I’ll be back full fledge here Monday. Working all weekend.
Thanks for asking.
When we have a private paying set of customers, they do INDEED rule us. We either provide them what they want or they will go elsewhere. Unions, and those who so adamantly defend them, don’t GET it. This is very a very basic rule of our economy. Competition kills unions. As it should. We don’t need them- they kill jobs.
April 24th, 2007 at 6:24 am
On the other hand, if the private paying customer wants quality care, they will be willing to pay more for it. Isn’t that why they chose private care? Those who do chose this are richer people anyway and they can afford it.
Unfair labor practices occurr everyday. Let’s face that- especially in our work.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
What unfair labor practices happen to us everyday? I want some examples…I hear this claim being made often but I don’t think it’s at all factual. Unfair as in the legal sense of the word.