Long-term care workers, at Ivy Meadows Continuing Care in Beaver Bank, NS, represented by CUPE 3618, voted 94% in favour of a strike mandate last week, joining a dozen other CUPE locals province-wide in their fight for fair wages and improved recruitment and retention.
“It’s disheartening to know that we’re the lowest paid long term care workers in the Atlantic provinces and have the government do nothing about it,” admitted CUPE 3618 President Denise Tanner. “We’re working hard each and every day to make our residents comfortable and feel as at home as possible, but it feels like the government doesn’t think that’s worth a living wage.”
Along with improvements to wages, understaffing from lack of recruitment and retention is a critical issue for workers. Only half of long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia meet the recommended 4.1 hours of care per day per resident.
“The recommended hours of care, that 4.1 number, is a minimum, and yet half the homes in the province can’t meet that demand. Why? Because they simply don’t have enough staff to dedicate that amount of time to each resident and still ensure necessary tasks are completed,” explained CUPE Long-Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “Which begs the question, how can these homes hire and keep staff if the wages don’t even come close to covering the increased cost of living? The simple answer is they can’t, and the Houston government needs to wake up and fix it.”
CUPE filed for conciliation last week after bargaining talks with representatives of the Houston government stalled.