Valley View Villa to return to picket lines over council’s continued demand for concessions

Pictou County, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Workers at Valley View Villa, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 2330, have issued notice to resume their strike following a breakdown in negotiations with their employer over demanded concessions, which would mean accepting terms worse than their current contract.

“Simply put, I’m disgusted,” said CUPE 2330 President Betty Best. “We were on strike province-wide for 9 weeks fighting for fair wages that allowed us to live, and now, after all that, the municipality is allowing High Crest Enterprises to try to claw back our hard-earned vacation time and health insurance coverage.”

Valley View Villa is owned by the Municipality of Pictou County and managed by High Crest Enterprises, a for-profit organization that owns and manages multiple facilities throughout the province. They have tabled concessions including changes to how employees earn vacation time, which could result in reduced vacation, and changes to the health insurance coverage that remove the union members from the health plan administered by the Health Association of Nova Scotia.

“It feels like they’re holding our wage increases hostage,” admitted Best. “We fought long and hard for those wage increases and now Valley View Villa refuses to sign the tentative agreement unless we give up on maintaining the integrity of our earned vacation time and health insurance.”

Workers at Valley View Villa were one of nearly 40 long term care homes on strike during the spring of this year. They were fighting for a fair and living wage for all workers in long term care sector wide. They were successful in achieving at least a $5 increase for all workers over the life of the agreement. Due to this tentative agreement, workers returned to work and paused the strike pending reaching a tentative agreement on local issues.

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