ST. LOUIS – Workers at Hillside Manor Healthcare and Rehab held a one-day strike outside the building Monday afternoon. They’re calling for better wages, more paid time off, and improved conditions in the facility.
“We’re here today to let them know that we want more money and we deserve more money,” said Gabrielle Love, a certified med tech and certified nursing assistant.
Workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Missouri said this all began a year ago, when Hillside Manor was sold to Luxor Healthcare LLC in New Jersey.
“And ever since then, workers have not been getting the paid time off that they have worked for, our wages have not been going up. We have been at the same pay rate for a long time,” Love said.
“They essentially said we’re going to pay you $14 an hour, let’s say, but then when they got their paychecks, they were only getting $11.25,” said Lenny Jones, VP of SEIU Healthcare Missouri.
Jones said the contract workers were offered in Sept. 2022 hasn’t changed. The only thing they agreed to do was change the pay when the minimum wage in Missouri went up to $12.
“We don’t have steady workers here. It’s a revolving door, we keep getting different workers, we have agency workers that come here. They get paid way more than us,” Love said.
Love and other healthcare workers we spoke with said there’s bed bug infestations inside, as well as standing water, which creates a health risk for their patients and themselves.
FOX 2 reached out to Hillside Manor for a comment but have not heard back.
St. Louis Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia (Ward 6) says they have created a special committee on long-term healthcare. Beginning next Monday at 3 p.m., they will hold weekly public meetings to address these issues and hold those responsible accountable.