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Union Reports $36K Nursing Home “Larceny”

by Paul Bass | Aug 27, 2010 11:30 am

(5) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Paul Bass PhotoBill Meyerson went to police headquarters to report that nursing home workers were robbed.

Meyerson, a spokesman for the District 1199/SEIU nursing home workers union, made the trip to 1 Union Ave. late Thursday afternoon to file a formal larceny complaint. He told the cops that the Jewish Home for the Aged on Davenport Avenue had stolen $36,000 from the workers’ paychecks.

His complaint represents the latest development in the financial struggles facing the 226-bed not-for-profit nursing home and the attendant friction with its 189 unionized employees. 1199/SEUI charges that the home has been failing to forward union dues it extracts from workers’ paychecks. The home owes the union $36,000 for the past five months’ dues, Meyerson said.

So he went to the front desk at 1 Union Ave. and said he wanted to file a larceny complaint against the home on behalf of the union. “They’re taking property that is not theirs,” Meyerson said. “They deducted money from members’ checks. And they haven’t turned it over to where the members designated it should go”

“It’s stealing; $36,000 is a lot of money.”

Meyerson was told his complaint would be referred to the detective bureau.

“That is being paid as we speak,” Jewish Home Administrator Beth Goldstein said Friday of the $36,000.

Meyerson reported on Friday that after the police contacted the home, the union got a call from Goldstein. She promised the union would have the money in hand by next Wednesday.

The home has been struggling to keep its doors open amid a crisis facing urban nursing homes in Connecticut, which tend to have a high percentage of poor patients on Medicaid. At the Jewish Home the percentage tops 90 percent. Homes lose an estimated $18 or more per day on Medicaid patients because of low state reimbursements. (Suburban homes tend to have more paying customers who make up the difference.) Earlier this year the state ordered the West Rock Health Care Facility shut down. The state has advanced the Jewish home $1.5 million to keep it afloat—but only until it’s sold. The home has been negotiating a sale with a for-profit outfit.

“We’re doing our best to continue operating as we have for 96 years” and ensuring patient quality care,” Goldstein said. “We will continue to keep our residents and our staff members as our primary purpose.”

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posted by: Kris on August 27, 2010  3:13pm

It’s stealing; $36,000 is a lot of money.”
Your right Bill,it is alot of money,the union collects 36,000 from 189 people over a 5 month period!?!?!Now I know how you can afford to light the xmas tree on the green! It’s no wonder you tried so hard to get into YNHH….you would have collected a mother load from us.I bet none of your workers even make in a year what you collect in 5 months…..talk about stealing,that’s what the union does every time someone pays dues! The 189 outta call the cops!

posted by: stevesywonder on August 27, 2010  4:32pm

@Kris: Perhaps you aren’t reading the entry correctly. These monies were owed to the WORKERS of the facility; this pay structure is negotiated through a collective bargaining agreement. $36,000 IS a lot of money that is owed to the employees, and Mr. Meyerson should absolutely file a complaint on behalf of the members. 1199 would do the same for YNHH employees if they were to be short changed in their paychecks through the terms and conditions of their salary structure, safety, benefits, etc. within any conceivable contract. Kris, you are considered an “at-will” employee, and YNHH could let you go tomorrow, demote you, or cut your paycheck in half if they so choosed. The members at The Jewish Home for the Aged are probably hourly employees, and 1199 might collect one (1) hour of members’ bi-weekly paycheck to be part of the collective (represented etc.). Most collective bargaining agreements have well over fifty (50) Articles to protect members/employees against managerial corruption/oversight (as seen here), favoritism, salary structures, bonus increments, safety etc. Remember that unions work for you!

posted by: Dding the math on August 27, 2010  4:47pm

@kris. That’s only $38 a month per employee. That’s about right for Union Dues. I pay nearly $56 a month (10 months a year).

posted by: Kris on August 28, 2010  11:19am

I think I did read correctly and the money is owed to the union not the workers.Are the workers splitting the check between them?Yes Yale can cut my pay,let me go or demote me but YNHH has never ever had to lay off a worker in its history which is more than you can say for unions.What good is a union for 189 people that are going to be unemployed?What are you protecting them from when they become unemployed?I’d rather have a job and worry about all the “bad” things yale can do to me rather than have a union and wind up with no job at all.

posted by: Kris on August 28, 2010  11:30am

One more thing,I am not against unions for police,fire,teachers,electricians,carpenters,
etc… I am however against unions for health care workers…especially at YNHH. Do you know how many people would be making min wage flippin burgers and pouring coffee if it wasn’t for YNHH??? Iknow because I’m one of them!

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