The president of Mine Mill Local 598/Unifor said a deal is close to being reached that will see minimum staffing standards established in the province's long-term care homes.
The union represents a number of employees at Villa St. Gabriel in Chelmsford and the Elizabeth Centre in Val Caron. Members spent much of Friday protesting outside those two facilities.
Anne Marie MacInnis said the idea is to apply pressure to the province.
“We've never been this close,” she said.
At issue is the fact personal support workers have only an average of six minutes per resident to get them ready in the morning, MacInnis said.
“Everyone knows this is going on, from the managers to the owners of these facilities,” she said.
The union is seeking four hours per day per resident.
Unifor launched a campaign earlier this year to draw attention to what MacInnis calls a “crisis” situation, as chronic budget cuts and provincial underfunding, combined with short staffing and more complex patient requirements, means residents are not getting the care they need.
As such, Unifor encourages people to take the six-minute challenge, where the task is to see if you are able to get yourself up and going in the average amount of time given to PSWs for each resident they care for.
With the announcement March 15 that the provincial government will deliver a Speech from the Throne, MacInnis said she's optimistic after hearing Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault speak about seniors care in a radio interview.
“That gives us a little bit of hope,” she said. “We'll see. It could go to home care. Health care is one of the largest funding envelopes for the government, and there are a lot of people at that trough. It's unfortunate, but we have to keep lobbying.”
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas also introduced Bill 33, the Time to Care Act, that calls for every licensee of a long-term care home to ensure the average number of combined hours of nursing services and personal support services offered at each home each day is at least four hour per resident.
The act has passed second reading and is now before the Standing Committee. It will then need to pass a third reading before it receive Royal Assent.
