LEBANON, Pa.—Nursing home workers on strike for almost six weeks protested Nov. 29 while their employer held a job fair to
hire scab licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and cleaning staff. AFSCME Local 2732 members in this small city east of Harrisburg walked out Oct. 20 after Cedar Haven Healthcare Center management imposed a contract they had already rejected because it raised their health-insurance costs and reduced their paid time off. The union has not received any sign that Cedar Haven’s owners are willing to negotiate, AFSCME Council 13 director Steve Mullen told the Lebanon Daily News. Stone Barn Holdings, the private-equity firm that owns Cedar Haven, has hired strikebreaker nurses from U.S. Nursing Corporation—which boasts that it has “staffed or helped avert more than 95% of all health-care labor disputes nationwide.” The Colorado-based company’s job posting describes the assignment as an “ongoing/indefinite strike.”
