Northwood workers prepare to strike
Posted Aug 10, 2012 05:53:47 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Homecare workers in Halifax and Bedford could be walking the picket line as early as Monday morning.
Northwood Homecare workers voted 88 per cent in favour of rejecting the employer’s latest offer, and Ivany House workers voted 89 percent in favour of rejecting their offer on Thursday..
Nova Scotia Government and Employees Union president Joan Jessome said the major point of contention for Northwood workers is the mandatory unpaid two-hour on-call period.
“If you look at 52 weeks of the year, that 520 hours that they give the employer, every year, that’s not paid for,” Jessome told Global News.
The NSGEU represents 34 employees at Northwood.
“We have heard loud and clear that the membership wants to address the issue of the continuing requirement of two hours of unpaid availability per shift. The members are determined to see this resolved,” Jessome said in a press release following the vote.
For the 41 Ivany House workers, the biggest sticking points are a dental plan and a retirement allowance.
“Northwood already provides a dental plan for other employees who work at their Gottingen St. location as well as those who work for Northwood Homecare, NSGEU Local 34,” said the union in a media release. “Members currently have a retirement allowance and the employer has proposed that this be taken away.”
Northwood spokesperson John Verlinden said the company is looking for alternatives for the people it services should there be a strike.
“If the person is not able to stay at home, and it makes more sense to perhaps move them into a hospital environment, than that certainly would be looked at,” said Verlinden.
The NSGEU has served its 48-hour notice to strike for Halifax workers and is in a position to strike on Aug. 13 at 7 a.m.
The current contract expired March 31, 2010 and the parties have been in negotiations since November 2011.
