CUPE’s largest Nova Scotian Nursing Home Local Votes to Strike

SYDNEY, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Workers from Harbourstone Enhanced Care, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1183, have voted 87% in favour of a strike mandate, making them the 39^th CUPE long term care home to take this action.

“As long-term care workers, we don’t do this job for the money or the praise, certainly not the notoriety—we do it because we genuinely care about the residents in these homes, about their families, and we want to do our part in making their lives better,” said CUPE 1183 President Gordie Ferguson, “but that doesn’t mean we should starve to do it.”

Nova Scotian long-term care workers are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada, falling nearly $10 behind other province such as Prince Edward Island in some classifications. With a living wage nearing $30 in most of the province, the current wages offered by the government do nothing to address this disparity.

“I hear stories of my fellow workers living in their cars, of them choosing between keeping their power or water on or putting food on the table, or of simply going without so their children don’t have to. How can these workers, my coworkers, show up every day, work full time, and still struggle to make ends meet?” asked Ferguson. “And, most importantly, how is the government okay with that?”

CUPE long-term care workers are set to return to the table with government on March 24^th for their final conciliation meeting before they can enter a legal strike position. If a deal is not reached, this could mean several thousand long-term care workers across Nova Scotia hit the picket line in April.

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