FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2020
Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259
WORKERS AT VALLEY VIEW MANOR NURSING HOME DEMAND PROPER PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC
(NORWICH, NEW YORK) – Today, workers and residents at Valley View Manor called on management to take more proactive measures to protect their health and safety. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents 65 workers at the facility is demanding the owners to provide staff with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), which is critical for the safety of staff, residents and the community.
In the midst of unprecedented health risks created by COVID-19 pandemic, the facility has yet to provide acceptable PPE to workers, which could help flatten the curve in New York. Access to respirator masks would protect residents, workers and the community from the pandemic’s full scale effects and help stop the spread the community has seen at other nearby facilities.
“The RWDSU is deeply concerned that Valley View Manor is refusing to implement the personal protective equipment standards workers demand as essential for the care of the elderly in the Norwich, New York community. The fact that the nursing home’s management is also failing to engage in a constructive dialogue with workers to address these concerns is stunning given the current pandemic as it sweeps across New York State.
“We demand management speak with workers immediately about their needs to protect not just their health, but the health of their families, their patients and the entire community. Management should provide workers with the needed personal protective equipment which will allow them to focus on caring for their patients. Proper PPE will stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect those who are among the most vulnerable COVID-19,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The RWDSU represents 65 workers at the nursing home facility. The workers in the bargaining unit handle all operations at the facility and include LPNS, CNAs, laundry, maintenance as well as the dietary and activity programming for residents.
# # #
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) represents 100,000 members throughout the United States. The RWDSU is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). For more information, please visit our website at www.rwdsu.org, Facebook:/RWDSU.UFCW Twitter:@RWDSU.