Employees invited back for less pay.
from the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Staff providing home care services at Strathmore Lodge have been given termination notices after Alberta Health Services gave the contract to Bayshore Home Health, a for-profit health care provider.
Strathmore Lodge is a facility run by Wheatland Housing, a not-for-profit agency in Strathmore Alberta. The lodge provides long term care and assisted living services.
All fourteen staff members who provided home care services for the Lodge were given termination notices recently.
Employees have been told they can work for Bayshore, but at a lower rate of pay, fewer benefits, and they will no longer have their pension plan.
Services will suffer under a private contractor, says CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts.
"When you cut wages and benefits in an industry that is already underpaid, you increase turnover and lower the level of expertise at the facility," she said.
“Employees have been told they can work for Bayshore, but at a lower rate of pay, fewer benefits, and they will no longer have their pension plan.”
"In 2005, the Auditor General raised the alarm about low wages in this industry. Clearly, the Redford government hasn't yet gotten the message."
Roberts called on the Redford government to consult with residents and providers about the best way to deliver the service.
"If you ask the people who receive the service, and the people who deliver it, they will all tell you that shoving aside small not-for-profit organizations for the big corporate model is a bad way to deliver care."
About Canadian Union of Public Employees
With 618,000 members across Canada, CUPE represents workers in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public utilities, transportation, emergency services and airlines.
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