We believe in the work we do. We care for our clients, and we want them to have the care and respect that they deserve. We want a workplace that respects their human rights.
But we are incredibly understaffed. Our employer won’t post vacancies and has forced us to work overnight shift—sometimes with no pay!—to make up for the lack of staff.
Now, Riverview says that if we work 16 hours, we only need to be paid our bargained wage for eight of those hours, and a lower rate for the other eight hours. If we say no, workers with precarious immigration status are brought in to work those shifts—exploiting their vulnerability as temporary foreign workers.
The implementation of the Remedy cannot include further marginalization of people with disabilities, and it certainly doesn’t require violations of our collective agreement, or the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code.
Riverview Home Corporation is an adult residential centre in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Workers are members of CUPE 2330, serving individuals with intellectual and/or physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries and long-term mental illness.
The Nova Scotia Human Rights Remedy is an agreement to transform the disability support system in our province, based on The Remedy Report. It is called “the Remedy” because it is what government must do to remedy the discrimination against people with disabilities in Nova Scotia.