WHITEHORN RETIREMENT VILLAGE LOCAL 048 CHAPTER 051 – NURSING CARE
Employer finds money for managers but not for front-line workers
Despite paying lower wages for nursing care than most other employers in Alberta, Whitehorn Retirement Village rejected all our monetary proposals at the most recent bargaining meetings.
To make matters worse, your employer’s offer would roll back your already low wages. Whitehorn offered wage increases of one per cent per year for three years, far below the increases we are seeing in the cost of living.
Your negotiating team had proposed a number of changes that would have brought your pay closer to the average rates in the continuing-care sector.
These proposals included:
- Increasing the evening shift premium to $3 per hour from $0.75;
- Increasing the night shift premium to $5 per hour from $1.25; and
- Increasing the weekend premium to $3.25 per hour from $1.50.
We also recommended improvements to sick time allowances; overtime pay; vacations; the creation of a flexible spending account; the creation of preceptor and practicum pay; and for the employer to cover a portion of registration fees for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).
In considering our monetary proposals, your negotiating team looked into wages at other sites. This link shows all the current wages of unionized health-care workers in Alberta. You can see that your wages are woefully low in comparison to other sites where workers are represented by AUPE.
Managers get raises, front-line workers get insults
During bargaining, your negotiating team discovered that Whitehorn Retirement Village has a very different approach to rewarding its managers than it does for you, the nursing-care workers.
Whitehorn paid more than $40,000 in bonuses to managers. They also received raises ranging from three per cent to five per cent.
What’s next?
Your employer’s offer is clearly unacceptable. The next step is for your negotiating team to apply for mediation with an independent third party. The hope is that a fresh, outside perspective will help move us towards a fair agreement.
Warning!
Your employer is targeting union activists and members of your negotiating team, looking for excuses to discipline them. This is clearly an attempt to intimidate members and create division.
Please be sure you are always on time. Even being one or two minutes late can lead to disciplinary measures. Do not give your employer any excuse to act against you.
If you have questions, please contact a member of our negotiating team.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – WHITEHORN RETIREMENT VILLAGE
Stacey Ryan-Chipman
staceyryanchipman@gmail.com Cell: 403-589-6688
Azebe Mamo
kumelazebe@yahoo.com Cell: 403-797-1621
Susan Kuriakose
susanplanchottil@yahoo.com Cell: 587-707-7859
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault Negotiations
c.tetreault@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski Organizing
m.szalynski@aupe.org
Alexander Delorme Communications
a.delorme@aupe.org