CUPE long-term care workers ask the public to join the fight to stop budget cuts
Three members of the support services department at the Heart of the Valley Nursing Home in Middleton, Nova Scotia received lay off notices last week — which is near Premier Stephen McNeil’s constituency office. The layoffs are the result of $6.7 million in budget cuts to long-term care announced by the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness.
This is the fifth facility operated by GEM Health Care Group to layoff workers and reduce hours in recent weeks. Staff cuts were also made at Melville Lodge in Halifax, Gables Lodge in Amherst, Whitehills in Hammonds Plains and the Admiral in Dartmouth.
Angela Delong, president of CUPE 3410 says, “These lay-offs are devastating to those facing the loss of their jobs. They are also devastating to the staff left behind. The work remains.”
“We have the same number of residents and the same size building. These things have not changed. Job cuts equal cuts to services, which ultimately mean cuts to care,” continues DeLong.
CUPE members, and anyone with a loved one residing in a nursing home, are asked to send an email to their MLA and Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine at cupe.ca/our-seniors-deserve-better, asking them to reverse the budget cuts.
“Our members working in long-term care are very upset,” says CUPE representative Karen MacKenzie. “These cuts are having a serious impact on their lives and their families, as well as on the residents they care for. They deserve better.”
Staff at the Port Hawkesbury Nursing Home received similar notices in early August. More staffing reductions are anticipated at other nursing homes in Nova Scotia.