HALIFAX — More than 2,200 workers from two dozen long-term care homes are now on strike across Nova Scotia. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) submitted its 48-hour strike notice on Friday and more than 2,200 workers from 24 facilities started hitting picket lines at 7 a.m. Monday. Affected workers include continuing-care assistants and licensed practical nurses, housekeeping staff and physiotherapists. CUPE says more workers are expected to join the strike in the coming days. The union represents 52 long-term care facilities in the province. It has been engaged in negotiations with the Nova Scotia government for months over new agreements, the majority of which expired in 2023. Their final scheduled conciliation meeting was held in late March. Alan Linkletter, the president of CUPE Nova Scotia, says workers are struggling with wages and the cost of living. “The government has offered a wage package that was offered to the acute care sector back in 2023 – it’s an old package. The cost of living has certainly increased, and it will be years before the long-term care sector actually gets back to the bargaining table again for another collective agreement, so the government needs to realize that wage package, it’s just not effective, it’s not helpful for the workers of Nova Scotia,” he said. The province has said there are 143 long-term care homes in Nova Scotia, many of which aren’t represented by CUPE and won’t be impacted by the strike. CUPE held rallies in Halifax, New Glasgow, Yarmouth and Port Hastings ahead of the strike on Friday. Nova Scotia’s long-term-care minister, Barbara Adams, says the labour action will cause challenges, but agreements are in place so that essential care continues. She is also encouraging CUPE leadership to reconsider the province’s offer. “On the table is a strong, competitive package. The offer matches the deal already accepted by employees in 27 unionized long-term care homes and in home care and hospitals. In fact, CUPE accepted this same deal for home care and hospital employees it represents,” she said in a statement Sunday. The full list of 24 affected care homes is: Linkletter says the union is willing to strike “as long as it takes.” “The membership has shown us, with our strike votes, that now is our time, and we’ll be here until the end,” he said. CUPE has previously claimed Nova Scotia long-term care workers are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada. With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sean Mott, Carl Pomeroy and The Canadian Press
