‘We’re ready to meet’: CUPE president visits striking N.S. long-term care workers

Both the Nova Scotia government and CUPE seem to be digging as the long-term care strike continues.

The national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) visited striking long-term care workers in Nova Scotia Wednesday.

The union said Mark Hancock would be offering “support and solidarity” to workers who have been on strike since April 13.

CUPE represents 52 long-term care facilities in the province.

Striking workers include continuing-care assistants and licensed practical nurses, housekeeping staff and physiotherapists.

Mark Hancock’s itinerary includes two stops in Halifax, one in Dartmouth and one in Enfield.

“Across Nova Scotia, the folks who look after our most vulnerable seniors are saying enough. Enough with low wages, enough with understaffing, enough with being told to carry a broken system on their backs,” he said in a news release.

“Premier Houston: enough with the attacks on workers and seniors. Get back to the bargaining table and give these workers the fair deal they deserve.”

In an interview with CTV News Atlantic, Hancock said they have not heard from the provincial government about possible negotiations.

“We’re ready to meet any time, but we’re hearing nothing,” he said. “We’ve reached out on multiple occasions and we are ready to get back to the table and bargain a collective agreement.”

Hancock said wages are a major focus for CUPE.

“These folks need to be able to keep up, to put groceries on their table, to keep a roof over their heads and that’s not happening right now,” he said.

“The money that we’ve been offered is next to nothing. It’s not going to help these folks even keep up with where they were even a year ago or two years ago.”

The province says its offer is fair and in line with other long-term care agreements.

“We are waiting for the union to take the offer to all of its members to ensure that they all know what the offer is and to allow them to have their say,” said Barbara Adams, minister of Seniors and Long-term Care.

“It’s a competitive offer. It’s 12-to-24 per cent pay raise plus a 70 per cent increase in shift premium, a defined pension benefit for those who didn’t have it and it’s a retroactive pay back to 2023 when the original deal expired.

“We believe that their members, just like the other 27,500 people who voted in favour of this deal, deserve to have their say and to allow them to vote on the deal.”

Two more homes to join strike

A separate news release from CUPE says more long-term care workers in Halifax and Chester are set to hit picket lines this week.

They will join the 30 other homes already on strike across the province.

“This government clearly thinks that ignoring us will force us to give up and go back to work,” said CUPE long term and community care committee chair Christa Sweeney.

“But the opposite is true. We’re not backing down until the government comes back to the table to negotiate a deal that works for everyone.”

Melville Lodge will begin picketing Thursday at 50 Shoreham Ln. in Halifax at 7 a.m.

Shoreham Village will start Friday at 50 Shoreham Village Cres. in Chester, also at 7 a.m.

The other striking care homes are:

• Lunenburg Home for Special Care in Lunenburg
• Grand View Manor in Berwick
• Magnolia Continuing Care Centre in Enfield
• Shiretown and Ivey’s Terrace Nursing Homes in Trenton
• Maple Hill Manor in New Waterford
• Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home in Halifax
• Harbourstone Enhanced Care in Sydney River
• Ocean View Continuing Care in Eastern Passage
• Admiral and White Hills Long Term Care Centres in Halifax
• Maplestone Enhanced Care in Halifax
• Alderwood Rest Home in Baddeck
• Richmond Villa in St. Peter’s
• Northside Community Guest Home in North Sydney
• Bayside Home in Barrington
• Seaview Manor in Glace Bay
• Maritime Odd Fellows in Pictou
• Valley View Villa in Stellarton
• Queen’s Manor in Liverpool
• Villa St. Joseph-du-Lac in Dayton
• Roseway Manor in Shelburne
• The Birches in Musquodoboit Harbour
• Port Hawkesbury Nursing Home in Port Hawkesbury
• Surf Lodge in Lockeport
• Ivy Meadows in Beaver Bank
• Glasgow Hall in Dartmouth
• Celtic Court in Membertou
• Bisset Court in Cole Harbour
• St. Anne Nursing Care Centre in Arichat
• Ryan Hall in Bridgewater
• The Meadows in Yarmouth

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page