Long-term care workers from Shoreham Village Senior Citizens Home, represented by CUPE 3454, voted 98% in favour of a strike vote last week.
“Taking a strike vote like this so close to the holidays, with such an overwhelmingly positive outcome, should be a clear sign that we, as long-term care workers, are at our wits’ end,” said CUPE 3454 President Sherry Haley. “We love our jobs, we’re proud of the work we do, but we’re struggling. We don’t earn enough to make ends meet; we don’t have enough staff to provide the quality of care we want and our residents deserve. If this is what it takes for the government to pay attention, so be it.”
Long-term care workers in Nova Scotia are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada, with several classifications, such as dietary aides and housekeepers, making under $20 an hour. Other health care sectors within the province, such as acute care, offer higher wages, which often results in long term care workers changing jobs so they can make ends meet.
“In my role as coordinator, I talk to long-term care workers across the province and while individual circumstances differ, the central issue is the same: they can’t afford to live,” said CUPE Long-Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “We have support staff, some of our most vital classifications, working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. We have CCAs taking on the responsibility of an entire floor of residents alone. Tell me, is that how you want your parents, your grandparents, to be taken care of? No? Well, neither do these workers, but the government has made this the only way.”