Long term care workers gathered on Thursday for a demonstration with staffing shortages, a lack of time-off, wages, and benefits among the main issues of the dispute.
Unifor Local 127 planned the rally after their collective agreement with the long-term care facility expired on January 1. Since then, the bargaining committee say they have reached an impasse with the employer.
RPN Edith Harding has been at Riverview Gardens for 31 years and says she does not feel supported by management.
“At least recognize us for what we’ve done over the past two years. We’re here, we [are] dedicated to our residents, but they keep being dishonest with us. They try to support us and stand behind us, but they don’t. They don’t understand what we need. We just need vacations, we need fair wages, we just need a fair contract. There is no work-life balance at RVG (Riverview Gardens).” says Harding.
Officials with Unifor Local 127 say a well-attended bargaining update meeting was held with membership on June 22. A mock-strike vote revealed that 99% of membership was prepared to consider a strike if it was legal in Ontario.
Staff at the LTC home are also concerned with the inclusion of agency workers hired from a third-party.
“Right now management seems to rather pay the outside agencies who don’t know our residents, don’t know the family members, and they come in and they take our jobs,” says Harding. “They are paying these agencies 13% more every hour, that’s $98 every shift, that’s $490 every week that is taken from our families.”
Those who attended the gathering are hoping to alert people in Chatham-Kent of the mistreatment they feel they’re getting.
“All we’re trying to accomplish today is an awareness so the public knows that we’re in trouble here. We need staff and we need more money for the residents to be taken care of well. We just need to attract good staff and they need to be paid.” says Harding.