Care workers at Andover Manor Rehab and Nursing plan to picket outside the 174-bed facility on Friday afternoon, demanding higher wages and criticizing what they describe as aggressive negotiating tactics by the nursing home’s for-profit management.
The picket is scheduled for Friday, July 18 at 2 p.m. at 89 Morton Street in Andover.
The workers—who include certified nursing assistants (CNAs), dietary aides, housekeepers, cooks, and other support staff—have been in contract negotiations since October 2024. They are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which says the staff has faced high turnover and is seeking better pay and benefits to help improve retention and care quality.
Union officials say management has instead proposed cuts, including:
- Reducing standard shifts from eight hours to seven and a half hours, which would amount to a 6.25% pay cut
- Lowering shift differentials for night, weekend, and holiday work
- Eliminating two paid holidays from the current benefits package
In a union vote last month, 96% of participating workers rejected management’s latest contract proposal.
Past Problems At Andover Manor
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Medicare and Medicaid Services division fined Andover Manor $65,683 following a Dec. 15, 2022 inspection where surveyors found one violation of rules to prevent infections and 19 deficiencies, including five that resulted in actual harm to residents.
The nursing home on Morton Street was also fined $47,993 after a June 25, 2021 inspection, when surveyors found staff had not followed through with testing orders for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, diabetes, hypertension, anemia, chronic kidney disease and a history of falls. Both inspection reports said Academy Manor had also failed to follow federal rules for preventing infections.
give pain medication to a resident, even after the CNA told the nurse she did not believe she was allowed to administer medications. While inspectors determined Academy Manor had violated federal rules, no fines were issued.
The complaint was one of four that led to inspections at Academy Manor since November 2019. In the seven inspections during that time frame, Academy Manor had 55 total deficiencies and three infection-related deficiencies.
Andover Manor provides long-term care for seniors, including those with dementia, as well as rehabilitation services for patients recovering from illness or injury. Workers argue that better pay and conditions are necessary to recruit and retain staff needed to maintain care quality.
Representatives for the facility did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
1199SEIU represents more than 85,000 healthcare workers in Massachusetts and over 450,000 across the East Coast. The union is part of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).