Oct 7, 2025 By Garrett Neese 5 min read

Nursing home workers and union representatives criticized Valley West-owned facilities for not coming to the bargaining table and for not providing necessary supplies for workers during a press conference ahead of a scheduled three-day strike.

Workers from the 10 Valley West facilities, including those in Greene and Fayette counties, overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices earlier this month. About 97% in support, the Service Employees International Union said in a release.

The three-day strikes are scheduled to start Oct. 14.

Valley West had given the employees “no choice” but to strike, said Matthew Yarnell, president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. Since the union filed to reopen negotiations on wages in July, the two sides had met once in August, he said. After that, they canceled a bargaining session in September the day it was scheduled, and canceled a third one scheduled for Oct. 3.

“Valley West has not provided any proposal yet, including a response to Union proposals,” he said. “Valley West has not provided information needed for the bargaining, even though we have requested the information to be able to bargain multiple times. Union workers have always been ready to negotiate in good faith.”

Yarnell said health care workers are required to provide 10 days notice of a strike to make sure that the employer can plan for the care of the residents.

The union entered a three-year contract with the New Jersey-based Valley West after the company purchased the nursing homes from Guardian in 2024.

In August, workers filed Unfair Labor Practice charges, saying the company would not bargain in good faith or provide repeatedly requested information needed for bargaining.

SEIU’s starting position was a raise of $2 an hour across the board, Yarnell said.

Tiffany Cothren, a certified nursing assistant for three years at Waynesburg Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, said given talk of the company buying additional nursing homes in Pennsylvania, she was discouraged by the staff cuts being discussed, which would include cutting cook and drink aide positions and falling back on frozen meals.

“People come here for rehabilitation, for care that restores their health and dignity,” she said. “This isn’t just about money. It’s about the quality of life for the people who live here. We’re not asking for the world. We’re asking them to bargain in good faith. We’re asking for fair raises and respect, and we’re standing up today because we know our residents deserve better, and we won’t stop fighting until we get what they deserve.”

In an emailed response Monday, Valley West said it had offered Oct. 16 as a proposal after SEIU’s original dates overlapped with the Jewish High Holy Days.

“Rather than accept that date, SEIU issued strike threats — first timed one hour into Yom Kippur, then scheduling the actual strike for another holiday,” Valley West said. “We see this as a calculated pressure tactic designed to generate headlines and fear rather than productive dialogue.”

Employees said Valley West had hired expensive agency staff but engaged in cost-cutting for services, cutting snacks for residents and not replenishing regularly needed supplies like briefs and wipes, said April Chirden, a certified nursing assistant from Cambria County.

“They’re so scarce that we’re left begging, borrowing and bringing our own,” she said. “The shampoo they provide is so cheap, it doesn’t even work. We end up buying our own just to make sure that the residents feel clean.”

Yarnell said so far, he has not been able to get Valley West to respond to information requests for documentation that they’re meeting state requirements to spend 70% of their Medicaid dollars on bedside care.

“It’s hard for us to know what they’ve done or not done with it, because they’re not providing any information to us,” he said.

Valley West’s statement indicated that because its purchase came late in the fiscal year, the state Department of Human Services would not require the full cost report to be filed until they’ve operated the centers for a full year.

The company’s statement contended SEIU was breaking the commitment it made in a two-year stability agreement to no strikes and no wage demands while Valley West improved the facilities.

“The bottom line is this: Valley West preserved every job, stabilized care, paid every vendor, and today these facilities average some of the highest in the state,” Valley West said. “We are ready to negotiate in good faith on Oct. 16, but we will not allow intimidation or unlawful strike threats to destabilize residents’ care.”

Yarnell said the agreement included a wage reopener at the start of the second year, during which the no-strike clause would be waived.

Cothren called Valley West’s invocation of the Oct. 16 date “very dishonest.”

“They have proposed dates that they would like to come to the table for themselves,” she said. “We’ve agreed to them, and then they’ve canceled their own dates … I think it’s very convenient that they want to have that meeting on the day after this strike is supposed to take place.”

The 10 facilities employ about 750 SEIU workers, including nurses, nurses’ aides, housekeeping, dietary, laundry and maintenance workers. Locally, 90 of those workers are at the Waynesburg Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, with another 70 at the Uniontown Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.