Union employees at Salmon Arm’s Pioneer Lodge will be walking off the job today in response to stagnating contract negotiations.
The Hospital Employee’s Union (HEU) announced the six-hour job action would take place Friday, Oct. 20, at two long-term care facilities operated in B.C. by Good Samaritan Canada: Pioneer Lodge and the Delta View Care Centre in Delta. Set to begin at 1 p.m., the HEU said the walkout is being staged in an effort to reach a settlement after two years of collective bargaining.
“After two years of bargaining, during which Good Samaritan delayed and cancelled dates, the employer is still offering no reasonable improvements to benefits, sick leave or shift differentials – despite the fact this employer has received substantial wage-levelling subsidies from the B.C. government since March 2020,” said HEU secretary-business manager Meena Brisard in a media release.
On October 17, HEU issued 72-hour strike notice, following the conclusion of essential service negotiations, reads the media release. Members voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike on July 21, and HEU workers at all Good Samaritan locations are now in a legal strike position.
The union said it’s asking Good Samaritan Canada to support employees with a “fair compensation package and working conditions,” and support seniors in their care with a “regular, fully-staffed facility.”
Good Samaritan Canada said it remains committed to the collective bargaining process, and will continue to bargain in good faith. Regarding the walkout, the organization said it is prepared to ensure that essential care and services are delivered at care homes during the strike.
“We negotiated an essential services agreement with HEU, which is in effect during the strike. We have been in communication with the BC Ministry of Health and the regional health authorities regarding the strike,” said Good Samaritan Canada.
HEU said this is the third successive round of bargaining during which the workers took a strike vote to get the employer back to the bargaining table, adding this is the first time it has escalated to job action with Good Samaritan Canada.
Pioneer Lodge and Hillside Village in Salmon Arm are both operated by the Good Samaritan Society.
“The challenges facing Good Samaritan workers and the residents they care for underscores the need for the B.C. government to make fundamental reforms to the long-term care system,” said Brisard. “This includes the implementation of its 2020 election promise to restore the standard wages, benefits and working conditions dismantled by the previous BC Liberal government. Such an action by the current provincial government would fully address the concerns HEU members are raising at the bargaining table.”
Read more: HEU members at 4 Okanagan-Shuswap care facilities vote yes to strike
Read more: Controversial ER closure sign in Williams Lake rooted in nursing shortage: Union
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