PAGE 2 | May 7, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Union contract puts Avamere at the top in nursing home pay
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SEIU says new industry-leading
agreement will result in better
care for residents.
By Don McIntosh
A new collective bargaining
agreement between Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU) Local 503 and Avamere
raises workers’ wages by up to
$4 an hour, and sets the highest
standard for wages and staffing
levels of any nursing homes in
Oregon.
The three-year agreement
was ratified almost unanimously
April 12-15 by members voting
in nursing home parking lots. It
covers about 550 workers at 19
Oregon nursing homes owned
by the Avamere chain. It took
effect May 1, and runs through
April 30, 2024.
The contract sets a new
statewide nine-step wage scale,
replacing regional 12-step wage
scales under which Eugene and
Bend area workers earned less
than those in Portland. Under the
new wage scale, pay ranges
from $18 to $23.49 for certified
nursing assistants (CNAs),
$16.79 to $21.90 for cooks, and
$15.93 to $20.79 for housekeep-
ers. Depending on where they
work and what they do, workers
will see raises of as much as $4
an hour under the new scale.
For CNAs, Avamere’s new
wage levels will exceed wages
paid at some hospitals. That’s
important because CNAs have
tended to earn less at nursing
homes than at hospitals, which
has made it hard for nursing
homes to keep experienced staff;
the resulting turnover lessens the
quality of care.
“People are very excited,”
says bargaining team member
Sam Browne, a CNA at
Avamere Rehabilitation of
Beaverton. For Brown, it was
the second time serving as part
of the union bargaining team,
and a completely different expe-
rience from the first time.
Avamere’s contract with the
union wasn’t set to expire until
October, the same as unionized
nursing home chains. [Besides
Avamere, Local 503 represents
workers at Oregon nursing
homes owned by Avalon,
Dakavia, EmpRes, Prestige, and
at independent Meadow Park
Health & Specialty Care in St.
Helens.] But Avamere ap-
proached Local 503 about start-
ing early, and agreed to the
union’s proposed ground rules,
including a trial run of “interest-
based” bargaining, a less adver-
sarial and more collaborative ap-
proach to negotiation in which
the two sides try to solve prob-
lems together in a way that
serves both sides’ interests.
The new contract will im-
prove the quality care nursing
home residents receive, Browne
said: “Happier workers, happier
workplace.”
Headquartered in Wilsonville,
Oregon, Avamere has over 8,800
employees at over 300 facilities
in 20 states. Its properties in-
clude not just nursing homes but
assisted living centers, memory
care facilities, and retirement
communities. Local 503 repre-
sents workers at 19 of Avamere’s
21 nursing homes in Oregon, as
well as workers at nine of
Avamere’s assisted living cen-
ters in Oregon under a different
collective bargaining agreement.
But more Avamere facilities
could also unionize thanks to
union neutrality provisions in the
new contract. For non-union
nursing homes in Oregon, the
contract commits the company
to provide employee lists and
contact information to the union,
give reasonable access to union
organizers to talk with workers
in the workplace, and recognize
a union at any Oregon facility
where a majority of workers sign
union authorization cards.
The contract also adds
longevity bonuses, increases
shift differential pay, establishes
protections against management
bullying, and makes workers
freer to speak their minds by
eliminating a previous anti-dis-
paragement clause.
Other provisions:
Wage reopeners: The two
sides will meet again in April
2022 and April 2023 to negotiate
further cost of living increases to
take effect May 1 of each year.
Improved staffing levels:
Avamere also commits to work
with the union to set staffing ra-
tios for CNAs and housekeepers
that are above what’s required by
Oregon law, and for CNAs it
commits to try out an “acuity” -
based staffing model that takes
into account how much care in-
dividual patients need.
Improved training: Newly
hired CNAs will be mentored
before being added to shifts.