Pittsburgh PA – A high-stakes battle is brewing in the long-term care industry, and the casualties could be Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents. Oxford Valley Health, a company known for reviving struggling nursing homes, is attempting a daring rescue of 11 facilities facing closure. But their mission is under threat, not from financial woes, but from the very people entrusted to provide care: the unionized staff.
Oxford Valley stepped in after the facilities’ previous owner, Guardian Healthcare, filed for bankruptcy. It was a lifeline for residents and a chance to revitalize struggling homes. But the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing hundreds of workers, is demanding steep wage hikes and benefit increases that could torpedo the entire operation and se these residents with no home.
“It’s like they’re playing chicken with people’s lives,” a source close to the negotiations told SCJ. “Every step of the way, it’s ‘meet our demands or we strike.’ These vulnerable residents are caught in the crossfire.”
The union’s hardball tactics come despite Oxford Valley offering maintaining wages and offering a health plan better then what the competitors are offering. “They are trying to improve things for everyone, that means staff and residents,” an insider spokesperson said. “But the union staff seems more focused on power plays than patient care.”
This isn’t just a labor dispute; it’s a financial tightrope walk. Long-term care operates on razor-thin margins, heavily reliant on government funding. Guardian’s bankruptcy is a testament to that. In fact, insiders say these facilities became “toxic” assets precisely due to the pre-existing union contract.
“Potential buyers ran for the hills when they saw those numbers,” an industry insider revealed. “That contract was a ticking time bomb, and Oxford Valley is brave to even try fixing this.”
Now, experts warn that caving to union demands could trigger a cascade of disastrous consequences: 11 closures and no home for the vulnerable residents, the very closures the state and Oxford Valley was trying to prevent.
Adding fuel to the fire is the recent exposé of union boss Harold Daggett’s lavish lifestyle. Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association and a vocal union supporter, was pictured at his sprawling New Jersey mansion complete with a Bentley and a poolside pizza oven. This has raised eyebrows and fueled questions about whose interests are truly being served.
With the clock ticking, Oxford Valley faces stark choices: walk away, putting residents at risk by caving to unrealistic union demands, or stand firm and face a strike that could jeopardize the lives of those they’re trying to save. It’s a high-stakes gamble with the well-being of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable elders hanging in the balance.
An Oxford Valley representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.