Union nursing home workers plan to strike across the state including Citadel of Sterling

STERLING – Health care workers at 40 nursing homes plan to strike next week, including those at Citadel of Sterling, as their union tries to negotiate higher wages and increased benefits that would include hazard pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

SEIU Healthcare, which represents more than 91,000 health care workers across four states, is calling for a 1-year contract from the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities that would set a wage floor of $15 an hour for all workers and $16 an hour for CNAs.

It also would provide for a 50% hazard pay bonus during the current and ongoing emergency period, as well as 80 more hours of paid sick leave for COVID-19 or related illnesses and provisions for continued health care coverage for vulnerable workers who would have to take leave from their job to protect themselves and their families, SEIU said in a news release.

They also want facilities to provide adequate personal protective equipment and safety training, as well as access to testing and any emergency benefits being made available to essential workers.

“Nursing home workers are facing a life-and-death crisis, and owners have failed to address this crisis responsibly – despite workers and residents’ families and the public calling upon them to do just that,” said Greg Kelley, president of SEIU.

“That is why workers have called a strike, and that is why they are ready to strike for their lives.”

Contracts at the nursing homes expire Friday, and strikes would begin May 8. Most of the facilities are in the Chicago area, but other locations include Sterling, Sandwich, Rockford, Barrington and Springfield.

Citadel of Sterling, formerly Sterling Pavilion, is at 105 E. 23rd St.

Officials there could not be reached for comment.

Morton Grove-based Citadel Healthcare bought the 121-bed skilled nursing and rehab facility from Dynamic Health Care of Skokie in 2018.