Long-term care workers from Valley View Villa could be back on strike after 9 weeks on the picket line and 6 weeks of renewed negotiations at the local level. Their employer continues to demand workers take concessions, which would mean accepting terms worse than their current contract. These concessions include changes to how employees earn vacation time, which could result in reduced vacation, and changes to the health insurance coverage.
“We spent weeks fighting alongside our fellow long-term care workers province-wide fighting for better wages, but now that the lead table has settled, our employer refuses to settle until we agree to accept terms worse than what we have now,” said Betty Best, the president of CUPE 2330, which represents the workers of Valley View Villa. “That’s a concession and these workers aren’t going to take that.”
Valley View Villa is managed by High Crest Enterprises, a for-profit organization, and is not bound to the agreements made at the provincial level as they are not represented by Health Association Nova Scotia (HANS) like most other homes. This means that they can continue to bargain a different contract from what was agreed to at the lead table, which, in this case, includes adding concessions that must be accepted in order for workers to receive any of the hard fought for wage increases.
“Only HANS homes are bound to the lead table protocol,” explained CUPE Long-Term Care Coordinator Kim Cail, “but in the past, all employers accepted the same deal as it means keeping the wages and benefits the same across the province no matter what long-term care home someone works in.”
