Workers at a group of nursing homes in the Chicagoland area owned by Infinity Healthcare delivered a 10-day strike notice on Aug. 24, 2023. (Courtesy of SEIU Healthcare Illinois)
Workers at a group of nursing homes in the Chicagoland area owned by Infinity Healthcare delivered a 10-day strike notice Thursday amid what workers describe as a worsening crisis of short staffing fueled by low wages.
The nursing home workers that are threatening to go on strike are represented by the union SEIU Healthcare Illinois. Four of the 11 nursing home facilities throughout the state that are set to strike are in Chicago. Four other facilities are in the surrounding area.
Workers are set to go on strike as early as Labor Day, which lands on Sept. 4.
Infinity nursing home workers during a news conference Thursday spoke about high turnover rates, poor building conditions, low wages and poor staffing leading to difficulty caring for residents.
“We need help,” said Aaron Wright, a maintenance tech worker at City View Multicare Center in Cicero, during the Thursday news conference livestreamed by the union. “We need Infinity to pay the people so we can draw in new workers because I’m not Superman.”
A spokesperson with Infinity Healthcare could not be reached for comment.
Nursing home workers with Infinity Healthcare were on strike in 2020 during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers striked for 12 days, demanding an increased minimum wage, hazard pay and a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment.
This week’s strike notice by Infinity Healthcare nursing home workers comes two weeks after workers at Loretto Hospital, who are also represented by SEIU Healthcare Illinois, reached a tentative bargaining agreement with hospital management following an 11-day strike.
Below are the nursing homes that are set to go on strike:
- City View Multicare Center (Cicero)
- Niles Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Niles)
- Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Chicago)
- Ambassador Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Chicago)
- Continental Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Chicago)
- Oak Lawn Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center (Oak Lawn)
- Southpoint Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Chicago)
- West Suburban Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Bloomingdale)
- Forest View Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing (Itasca)
- Momence Meadows Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center (Momence)
- Parker Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Streator)
Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]
