‘A longstanding crisis’: California workers fight to reform nursing homes

Union pushing for proposal to create board to oversee industry in wake of pandemic that has decimated staffing

Jesus Figueroa Cacho, a certified nursing assistant of the Sacramento, California area, has worked in the nursing home industry for about 25 years.

She consistently works 16 hour long shifts, 60 to 80 hours per week, often working through breaks and not getting paid overtime because her employer she works night shifts and overtime accrual resets at 1am every day, in the middle of her shifts. Figueroa Cacho said her facility is severely understaffed, often with just two nurses to care for around 50 patients.