Hundreds of Group Home Caregivers to Strike Over Pension Default

MANCHESTER - Nearly 300 caregivers who are members of SEIU 1199 New England from two agencies with locations across Eastern Connecticut are ready to walk off the job Friday morning after agency owners continue to refuse to increase their pension contribution to prevent the fund from defaulting.

The workers from the agencies owned by Alternative Services Inc. (ASI) and Network Inc. will walk off the job Friday at 6 a.m. if an agreement is not reached before then.  That agreement would include increasing what the employers are currently paying to the pension fund by 0.2% to prevent the default.

Without this agreement workers could be looking at significant reductions in their monthly pension payments, in some cases as much as $400 every month.

These caregivers provide around-the-clock care for some of the most vulnerable in our state.  Those include people living with intellectual or developmental disabilities who need assistance to live an independent life.  While others have suffered life changing injuries or illnesses that have left them needing additional care.

Of note, one of the agencies that was pending strike, Whole Life, reached an agreement early Thursday with its workers to protect the pension.  Workers are pleased to announced that the employees safeguarded their retirement and there will be no strike at those locations. They join 5 other developmental disabilities agencies from across the state who had already preserved their workers pension plans. This leaves just two agencies who continue to refuse to safeguard the plans their employees have worked so hard for.