Posted by Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Laurel Myers
Seventy Red Cross home care workers in Sudbury have been pushed to their limit, personally and financially, and took to the street Tuesday to drive home their point.
Since Monday, Red Cross personal support workers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been in a legal strike position. Last summer, the workers voted 88 per cent in support of a strike to address key issues, including low pay and a lack of compensation for travel time between clients.
Red Cross is one of the largest agencies under contract with the government to provide home care services. Home care i
s the delivery of health care and support services in the home. This service enables seniors, people with disabilities, people recovering from surgery and children with special needs to access care in a more comfortable environment.
After months of bargaining with the government and no resolution in sight, the workers were forced to take strike action after negotiations broke down at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
"Basi
cally, they didn't address the issue of travel time and fair compensation for the home care workers, and negotiations broke down at that point," said Cathy Carroll, secretary-treasurer, SEIU Local 1.
"It's very difficult for these workers to be able to walk a picket line when they know their clients are there and need the care they provide everyday. That's part of our fight. These are essential workers who do a very essential job in our community, and they should be fairly compensated for that, like other health care workers."
The Sudbury area home care workers were the first in the province to embark on the one-day rotating strike and returned to work on Wednesday. Strikes will continue daily in other communities across the province until a resolution is found.
While there is no indication at this time when talks will resume, Carroll said they are always available to go back to the table.
"We have a budget coming up on Thursday. There is a way for the minister to settle this strike and that's to put money in that budget for home care workers," she said.
Debbie Scott, a personal support worker, and SEIU union rep, said proper compensation is overdue.
"We spend way too much money to go from client to client and we're not compensated in between. Sometimes we could b
e travelling a 50 minute distance to get paid for a half-hour client, some of them are only 15-minute clients. We're not really making anything.
"We need fairness for our workers, and to get better care to our clients," she continued. "I hope they sit back and realize
what they're doing to our community, because we're here for the community and we're here to do better for our workers, and also for our clientele."
Franc
e Gélinas, Nickel Belt MPP and NDP health and long-term care critic, joined the home care workers on the picket line Tuesday afternoon.
She said the strike was a direct result of competitive bidding.
"Aft
er a short moratorium, the McGuinty government decided to keep the competitive bidding process in home care, which has set the stage for this kind of labour dispute," she said. "The competitive bidding process is undermining home care because services are contracted out piecemeal to the lowest bidder.
"The competitive bidding system has left home care workers living in poverty. Because of the poor wages, this sector is unable to recruit and retain a stable workforce to offer quality care."
Gélinas said home care is vitally important to improving the health care system, in particular, the Alternative Level of Care crisis.
"We see across Ontario, ALC patients in our hospitals, occupying beds when they should be cared for at home with ... home care services," she said. "The McGuinty government is not funding home care properly."
