Residents at St Marys Manor in Timmins, Ontario face an uncertain future as the owner of the private nursing home has issued lay-off notices to all 20 members of CUPE Local 4249.
Weve been trying to negotiate a first collective agreement with this employer for over three years now, says CUPE rep Denis Rg0069mbald. This employer has refused to bargain fairly, threatening to fire everyone at our last meeting if they didnt accept a 10 cents, or 1.5 per cent wage increase over three years.
CUPE has filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board over the firings set to take effect November 4, just three days before arbitration hearings were set to begin.
We are calling on members of the community to contact local politicians and join our campaign to stop the firings, says Rg0069mbald. The residents of Timmins will not tolerate such a blatantly unfair treatment of workers and total disregard for the care of the residents.
Workers represented by CUPE Local 4249 offer nursing care, personal assistance, maintenance and kitchen support to 67 residents at the nursing home, earning between $7.50 and $10.00 an hour with no benefits.