Employees at New Dawn Guest Home, a residential care facility in Sydney, have voted 100 percent in favour of job action. The voting took place over the last two days.
The 24 employees are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3067, and are the lead table for sector bargaining under the Department of Community Services.
Bargaining stalled after two days of conciliation last week with many items still on the table, including wages and pensions. CUPE has been pushing for a defined benefits pension plan for all members throughout the sector. Right now only a handful of locals have defined benefit plans.
“Wages are the main issue for this local,” says CUPE National Representative Kathy MacLeod. “These employees earn only 90 percent of what their counterparts make at other facilities across the province.” MacLeod says this discrepancy stems back to a 2008 government review that determined, incorrectly, that employees have different levels of responsibilities depending on which facility they work at.
“They do the exact same duties,” MacLeod asserts, “including administering medications, personal care and activities of daily living, and can be exposed to violent situations. Yet they are paid at the low end of the scale.”
Local 3067 President Gail Lawrence says the members are ready to take job action, including a strike, if wage adjustments are not forthcoming in this round of bargaining. “These hard working employees have been held back for too long, and they are not going to stand for it any longer,” she says. “They deserve parity with the rest of the sector.”
The employees at New Dawn are residential care assistants, housekeepers, cooks, activity directors and maintenance personnel.