Workers and management at Lakeside Nursing Home have reached a new labor agreement that includes wage increases and preserves pensions, the Tompkins County Workers' Center announced Wednesday night.

The final contract, ratified by a majority of the 130 members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199, contains wage increases, maintains pensions and benefits, preserves seniority, and does not require workers to reapply for their jobs, according to the Workers' Center release.

Lakeside custodian and contract bargaining team member Johnny Wright was quoted as saying that the contract is a "fair settlement which shows that when people stick together and demand what's fair, they will surely win."

Lakeside Administrator Pat Deptula could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Two members of Peregrine Health Management Co., which has managed Lakeside since 2000 and took over as receiver when Lakeside declared bankruptcy in 2003, plan to become its for-profit owners and rename the facility Cayuga Ridge.

At a press conference last week with State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton D-125h, Pastor Rich Rose of Ithaca's First Baptist Church, and Mayor Carolyn Peterson, Lakeside workers accused Peregrine and Cayuga Ridge officials of threatening to cut wages and pensions and force workers to reapply for their jobs.