An informational picket is scheduled to take place Oct. 16 at the Kinzua Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Warren in response to months of stalled negotiations.

On Wednesday, about 750 essential workers with the Service Employees International Union Healthcare PA at 10 Valley West Health-operated nursing homes in Western and Central Pennsylvania sent notices of Unfair Labor Practice strikes and information pickets. Workers voted overwhelmingly by 97% to authorize a three-day Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) strike at eight facilities, set to begin Oct. 14. The remaining two facilities, including Warren, will hold informational pickets.

The caregivers, serving close to 1,000 seniors and residents, are calling on Valley West to begin bargaining in good faith and invest in safe staffing. They are also demanding transparency around how public funds are spent on care.

“No healthcare worker ever wants to have to strike, but Valley West is giving us no other option” said Tiffany Cothren, a certified nursing assistant for three years at Waynesburg Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. “They are not bargaining in good faith, won’t provide basic information needed to negotiate, and are refusing to invest in care for residents. We are standing up for our residents, our communities, and the public dollars that should be going to care — not corporate profits.”

Workers, including nurses, nursing aides, housekeeping, dietary, laundry, and maintenance staff, have been trying to negotiate a wage reopener for over two months. While more than 60 other nursing homes have already raised wages this summer to combat unsafe staffing and improve resident care, Valley West has appeared at only one bargaining session with workers thus far and to date have yet to provide a proposal.

An out-of-state operator new to Pennsylvania, Valley West purchased the 10 union nursing homes in 2024 after former owner, Guardian Healthcare, filed for bankruptcy. Workers only reached their first agreement with Valley West last year to maintain existing contract standards and protect continuity of resident care.

With one in three Pennsylvanians estimated to be 65 years and older by 2030, new efforts including the industry-labor partnership between SEIU Healthcare PA, the Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA), and operators such as Saber Healthcare are dedicated to stabilizing the workforce crisis, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in bankruptcies, and sales. Thirty-two percent of nursing homes in the Commonwealth have experienced sales in the last 7 years. Without competitive wages, adequate staffing, and access to affordable healthcare, worker turnover in nursing homes remains high and threatens the quality of care for residents. Workers are urging elected officials to hold operators, such as Valley West Health, accountable for how they use public funds.

By law, nursing home administrators must receive a 10-day notice before a strike at a healthcare facility takes place.