How are things going at facilities owned by Carlyle Group/Manor Care? Not good, at one.

More than a year after she began advocating for the residents of Manor Care and seeking to organize the facility’s workers, Trisha Miechur has won a crucial battle.

Last month, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that the Palmer Township nursing home violated the law when supervisors disciplined then threatened to fire Miechur for her efforts.

“We felt like we were being harassed and a lot of people were afraid to fight for what they believe in. I’m happy that we won,” said Miechur, a certified nursing assistant.

“I was afraid to work at my job. I was watching my Ps and Qs because at any given time I could be fired. Now that that’s all done with, I feel relieved.”

Miechur knows Manor Care may appeal the decision, but is hopeful that won’t happen.

What are the P’s and Q’s? Probably any little thing- stupid meaningless thing- management can find to discipline employees.

Miechur says she went to work for Manor Care in 2005 and slowly watched the facility deteriorate, with understaffing posing the biggest threat to quality care.

The Lower Nazareth Township resident shared her concerns with supervisors then sought help from the SEIU when she didn’t see significant improvements.

That was September 2007. In the months that followed, Miechur was cited for disloyalty and other alleged behavior referenced in the NLRB decision.

Note the dates. When we work for a nursing home (or ANY health care facility) WHO are we loyal to? The facility– or our residents/patients/clients?

When Carlyle Group acquired Manor Care in December 2007, Miechur was hopeful the private equity firm would get the nursing home back on track. By then, SEIU was already involved in a national campaign aimed at pushing Carlyle Group to do just that.

Miechur joined the effort and in January 2008 confronted firm co-founder David Rubenstein at a Philadelphia business conference. The encounter grabbed headlines in the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Matt Richards, an SEIU spokesman, said the decision is gratifying, but the punishment falls short.

“She’s been walking into that nursing home every day for the last year fearing for her job,” he said.

“This is what’s fundamentally wrong with our labor law. When the employer violates the law, their penalties are virtually nothing in the long run.”

Miechur, who once said “she wouldn’t stop until something’s improved at Manor Care” has remained steadfast in that promise. To that end, she is now advocating for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Good for Miechur. We need more of this- people to stand up to poor care and lack of resources, AND lack of doing the right thing for the people we serve. The nursing home industry deserves to be unionized- every facility- as far as I’m concerned. NOW- this is a change for me as I used to be extremely anti union. Like Patti, I saw no use. However, seeing firsthand how CNA’s and others are taken advantage of- I hold a very different opinion.