HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) — The morning of Sept. 2, about 700 workers from 14 nursing homes walked out of their jobs in Pennsylvania. Contract negotiations began Sept. 1 and did not come to a resolution even into the early hours of the next day.

Photos and video on social media showed picket lines going up outside many of the homes, The Associated Press reported, with workers carrying signs and wearing the purple T-shirts of their union, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.

An update on the nursing home strikes was sent out by the director of communications at SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, Karen Gownley, saying strikes began Friday.

Gownley said no health care worker ever wants to strike. The goal would be to come to an agreement where the $600 million from state funding would go into staffing, bedside care, raising job standards, tackling the staffing crisis and getting better care the residents deserve.

Our goal has always been — and continues to be — to get a fair contract that invests in this entire workforce and will meaningfully address the staffing crisis,” Matthew Yarnell, SEIU president, told WHP, accusing nursing home operators of “failing to create the kind of wage scales we’ve been able to achieve with other providers.”

The facilities currently set to strike:

• The Grove at New Castle
• The Grove at Irwin
• The Grove at Harmony
• The Grove at Washington
• Fairlane Gardens
• Rose City Health and Rehab
• The Gardens at East Mountain
• The Gardens at Easton
• The Gardens at Wyoming Valley
• The Gardens at Blue Ridge
• The Gardens at West Shore
• The Meadows at York Terrace
• The Meadows at Stroud
• Shenandoah Heights

At this time, there has been no additional dates set up to bargain. However, Gownley said workers remained hopeful they could get back to bargaining at the table quickly.

Like many other industries, nursing homes have not been immune to the effects of COVID-19, grappling with an already high turnover rate before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, the situation hasn't gotten much better since early 2020. Some facilities were forced to shut down or drastically downsize due to lagging Medicaid reimbursements, trade groups told The AP.