Nursing home workers in WB participate in informational picket

May 5—WILKES-BARRE — Employees at the Gardens at Wyoming Valley joined more than 2,000 nursing home workers at facilities across Pennsylvania in an informational picket on Wednesday to fight for better staffing and better job standards.

Standing alongside North Pennsylvania Avenue, a number of Gardens workers held signs and drew honks from passing vehicles as they picketed outside of the Gardens facility from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

"This picket is to let the people know what our staffing situation is, the wages we would like," said Gardens employee Karen Kollar. "We're very understaffed at the moment, it's been hard."

The picketing Gardens employees belong to SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the state's largest nursing and healthcare workers union.

All across the state, nurses and caregivers like the ones at the Gardens held informational pickets to demand better conditions for their workers.

"I think it's 40 buildings taking part," Kollar said of the statewide picket. "It's all across the state, and probably all over the country."

Several workers along the Gardens picket line (all off the clock, as an informational picket doesn't mean a strike or a work stoppage) echoed Kollar's concerns about the staffing at their facility.

"It takes a toll mentally and physically," said caregiver Ronilee Kochinski as she joined the picket line. "Nothing is getting better, there are no incentives ... our bodies just can't handle it."

Kochinski joined the staff of the Gardens back in November, and she said that she routinely works anywhere between 125 and 137 hours per pay period.

She said that the understaffing issue doesn't just put a burden on the employees, but it also trickles down to the residents of the Gardens.

"These residents need care, without us who will take care of them?" Kochinski asked. "I take great pride in my work, and it bothers me when I leave here knowing that I didn't give them the care that I really wanted because I didn't have the time."

One of the picket organizers said that, in addition to the pickets taking all over Pennsylvania on Wednesday, an action day featuring SEIU members going to Harrisburg to continue their fight for better conditions will be held on May 25.

At the Gardens, as motorists honked in support of the picketers, Kochinski wondered what more it would take to see some meaningful change.

"Nobody sees the work that they do," she said. "How much more do we have to fight for?"

___

(c)2022 The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

Visit The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) at www.timesleader.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.