Two more Nova Scotia long-term care homes are joining a strike that has been going on for a month with no deal struck. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said the Inverary Manor in Inverness and Foyer Père Fiset in Chéticamp will go on strike at 7 a.m. on Thursday. The total number of homes on strike will be 34, which represents roughly 3,300 workers. CUPE represents workers at 52 long-term care homes in Nova Scotia. The strike began on April 13 with members calling for improved wages. “I’ve been really discouraged from working in long-term care,” Kimberley Watson, a housekeeper at Glasgow Hall, previously told CTV News Atlantic. “It’s hard, I haven’t been away, I don’t go on trips. My money goes on my rent, I try to find the cheapest I can for food.” Last week, CUPE and the Nova Scotia government returned to the negotiation table, but both parties walked away without coming to an agreement. Barbara Adams, minister of Seniors and Long-term Care, has said the government has made a “competitive offer” that includes a 12-to-24 per cent pay raise and a 70 per cent increase in shift premiums. “We want CUPE union members to have an opportunity to vote on the offer that has been accepted by other CUPE union members,” Adams said last week following the meeting. The full list of long-term care homes on strike includes: With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Natalie Lombard For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
