We recently detailed how the healthcare industry’s experiencing an abrupt change in fortunes. Even as nurse unions continue to push OSHA to enact permanent rules for workplace safety, Covid-19 federal dollars continue to dry up. Resulting budgetary strains on hospitals will lead to ongoing transformations, including the bursting of the travel-nurse bubble.
A related and ongoing crisis exists at nursing homes across the United States. Over 2,000 employees in Pennsylvania went on an SEIU-driven strike for higher wages, an issue exacerbated by the pandemic. In California, for example, an SEIU-represented worker alleged a 60-80 hour workweek for “poverty-level wages” that didn’t include overtime pay. She detailed how many of her fellow employees quit during the pandemic because the facility had more money to pay temporary workers, who ended up receiving higher wages than their permanent counterparts.
