Ryan Hall Long Term Care Workers Vote to Strike

Bridgewater, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Long term care workers from Ryan Hall, represented by CUPE 5033, voted 100% in favour of a strike mandate, citing low wages, poor recruitment and retention, as well as issues with personal leave, as their main issues.

“Working in long term care isn’t an easy job. We’re nurses and friends, a shoulder to cry on or a chess partner. We’re the first person they see when they wake up and the last before they go to sleep. Sometimes, we’re the only people they see in a day or week,” said CUPE 5033 President Erin Johnson. “That can be hard, but we do this, we stay, because we care. We care about the job and the residents and want to stay by their side. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be paid fairly. That doesn’t mean we should live paycheque to paycheque.”

Several essential classifications in long term care, such as dietary aides, ward clerks, and seamstresses, make less than $20 an hour, putting them well behind the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ living wage estimates for Nova Scotia. But they are not alone, classifications such as cooks and maintenance also make several dollars less than their counterparts in other Atlantic provinces.

“People don’t like to talk about money, and I get it. Everyone is struggling right now. No one is escaping this cost-of-living crisis,” admitted CUPE Long Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “But the reality is that we need to talk about money because if no one does, nothing will change. The Houston government has offered these workers little more than poverty wages and we need to talk about that. We need to talk about why Houston thinks he can get away with not caring about senior care in this province.”

Bargaining between the Houston government and CUPE long term care homes has stalled and CUPE will be filing for conciliation this week.

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