Ned Lamont, a Democrat running for governor, threw his support behind Valley nursing home workers who went on strike Thursday.
Lamont appeared at the picket line outside the Birmingham Health Center on Chatfield Street in Derby around 4:30 p.m.
“I think they want to sit down with management and work this out in an amicable way,” Lamont said. See the video for more from Lamont.
About 200 people at Birmingham Health and at Hilltop Health Center in Ansonia walked off the job at 6 a.m. Thursday.
The facilities are owned by Spectrum Healthcare, based in Vernon. Workers are also striking at Spectrum nursing homes in Hartford and Winsted.
The workers have been without a contract since March 2009. Talks between the union and the owners broke off Tuesday night, with both sides saying the other no longer wanted to meet.
Replacement workers have been brought in to cover the shifts of the striking workers.
At 7:30 a.m. Thursday in Derby, about 30 union workers marched in a small circle at the vehicle entrance to Birmingham Health Care. There was a slight delay for one non-union clerical worker trying to report for work as she tried to maneuver her car through the workers (see video).
James Cook, a porter at the nursing home for 14 years, said some people had arrived at 4 a.m. He described the mood as “upbeat.”
“We’re looking for unity. Our boss, he’s not settling our contract. He’s telling lies that he wants to give us this and that … he’s not doing it.”
See the video for more comments from Cook about the “scabs” brought in.
Spectrum offered workers a 2.5 percent raise — but workers wouldn’t see the extra money until July 2011.
Union officials said the timing of the raise was not acceptable.
“Operators of 32 other nursing homes covering almost 4,000 long-term care workers in Connecticut agreed to contracts that skipped raises in 2009 but included 2.5 percent wage increases this year. Spectrum is demanding that their employees go without any wage increases until July 2011 – more than 2.5 years,” union vice-president Almena Thompson said in a prepared statement distributed Wednesday.
The striking workers include nurses, nursing assistants and elder-care support staff.
Union officials also complain that Spectrum has an “abysmal” health and safety record, pointing to a OSHA letter Spectrum received that warned the injury rate at the facilities was twice the national average.
Sean Murphy, Spectrum’s chief financial officer, said many health care facilities are on the same list, given the nature of the job and strict government regulation. The company takes safety seriously, Murphy said.
He also pointed out that Spectrum workers do not have to pay for healthcare.
Like the rest of the country, Spectrum has seen its operating costs increase, Murphy said. Meanwhile, government assistance and reimbursement programs have been slashed.
There are 120 beds in the Derby nursing home and 90 beds at Hilltop.
On Thursday afternoon, police in Ansonia and Derby said they had received a smattering of complaints regarding the striking workers — including one claim of criminal mischief to a vehicle in Ansonia, but no arrests were reported.