Kaleida Health Workers to Vote on New 3-Year Deal

BUFFALO, N.Y. — About 8,000 Kaleida Health nurses and various hospital staffers will now vote on a tentative three-year contract offer reached early Tuesday morning after a marathon overnight bargaining session.

RELATED ARTICLES: Rural hospitals brace for financial hits or even closure under Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut

In the early morning hours just before a scheduled union strike authorization vote,  a three-year potential deal with Kaleida emerged amidst praise from union officials from the CWA 1168 and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers units.

Erin Spaulding, who is on staff with CWA 1168 Union Staff, said: “We weren’t sure we were going to reach an agreement, but we really pushed hard and were persistent, and we’re really happy with the agreement.”

And Cheryl Marino, who is an organizer with 1199 SEIU said, “They made all the decisions and came to a fantastic agreement, which I think our members will ratify. They did unanimously agree that they should ratify this contract.”

The Kaleida network of Buffalo General, Millard Fillmore Suburban, and Oishei Children’s Hospital, along with High Pointe Skilled Care and other facilities, recognized their work force as their “main asset” and said the new deal “offers excellence” while reportedly increasing wages in the 3 to 4 percent range and benefits.

And while it does mention increased staffing and retention, there is perhaps some work to do there on a potentially sticky issue according to Larry Zielinski; who is a former President of Buffalo General Hospital and now Executive Director of Primary Care Independent Physicians Association which involves the local offices of 24 primary care doctors here in Western New York. 

Zielinski found one point of the tentative agreement rather interesting.  “The staffing ratios are still undetermined, and there’s going to be language developed one year after ratification. So it sorta kicks that can down the road a little bit.”

This contract bargaining took place in the shadow of the newly approved federal budget reconciliation bill, which could mean a potential one trillion dollar cut in Medicaid funding reductions over ten years. That could especially affect New York state, which has over seven million people estimated to be on Medicaid benefits. 

Kaleida officials even hosted a rally/protest event back in February, claiming dire consequences for the health care industry and public if it were approved in Congress as it was.  

2 On Your Side asked about Kaleida seeking a new labor agreement even as hospital officials and others had warned of severe cutbacks with the passage of that measure. Zielinski told WGRZ, “I think that’s accurate. I think if I’m a union negotiator, what I’m concerned about is as much stability as I can ensure for my members, and now they have these wage increases.”

He added, “For Kaleida, it’s let’s not create another huge uncertainty in the form of labor unrest. The wage increases, I think, are reasonable, and now I have to deal with this bigger issue of how is this system and this community going to handle these cuts in federal support for the Medicaid system.”