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‘Rude and condescending.’ Clovis nursing home workers blast bosses, picket facility

The Fresno Bee - 8/10/2022

Health care workers at a Clovis nursing home Wednesday set up a picket line to highlight what they call poor working conditions exacerbated by unsafe staffing levels, low wages and high turnover.

The workers, part of the Service Employees International Union, want the issues addressed in contract negotiations.

Monica Duarte, a spokeswoman for SEIU, said the union is seeking a statewide contract with the Providence Healthcare Group, of which Willow Creek Healthcare Center is a part.

Efforts to reach officials at the Willow Creek facility on West Alluvial Avenue, as well as the Providence group, were unsuccessful.

Duarte said that management at the facility treats workers in a “rude and condescending” manner while saddling them with a heavy workload. She also mocked management at the facility for setting up an employee barbecue Wednesday timed to conflict with the union’s job action.

SEIU claims to represent more than 400,000 nursing home and home care workers in California. The union maintains that COVID pandemic conditions have exacerbated preexisting staffing shortages at nursing homes, with workers quitting at high rates. Willow Creek had some of the highest rates of corona virus at the height of the pandemic.

Nelson Esparza, president of the Fresno City Council, appeared at the protest to show his support for the workers.

©2022 The Fresno Bee. Visit fresnobee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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