safe staffing

Healthcare workers of the CWA Union Local 1168 are picketing this afternoon at Kaleida Health facilities to call for 'safe staffing' levels.

New York state nursing homes have long been plagued by understaffing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse. Despite this, the state Department of Health opposes a bill that would mandate minimum staffing level standards in nursing homes. 

After going nearly a year without a contract, some local nurses and their union continue to work on bargaining for a new agreement. But while representatives are at the table, others are practicing their picketing.

A bill sitting in a New York State Assembly committee calls for limits to the number of patients a hospital nurse should assist on a shift. A newly-formed coalition is pressing a Buffalo-area Assemblyman to back the bill and get it on the floor for a vote.