Niverville PCH is bracing itself for a threatened employee strike

From 7am on Tuesday, April 23, union staff at the Niverville Heritage Life Personal Care Home (HLPCH) will go on strike.

This news, relayed during the late afternoon hours of April 22, was received by family members and support people of the many residents living at the senior care facility.

Workers heading to the picket lines include health care workers, housekeepers, laundry and recreation workers.

According to Ron Parent, executive director of the Niverville Heritage Center, the facility’s management team has been successful in their negotiations with the union thus far, with the exception of one critical issue: the request for a retroactive wage settlement.

HLPCH union workers have been working without a contract since March 31, 2022.

According to Parent, the first notifications were sent to family members between April 17 and 19.

Although he admitted in these messages that the terms of the bargaining agreement are fair and comparable to those of other similar employees in the province, the hands of the Heritage Center administration are tied.

“As a non-profit, community-based personal care home that is part of the Heritage Center, a social enterprise, we rely heavily on funding from Southern Health-Santé Sud (SHSS) for financial support necessary to meet the needs of people who live within our House and community.”

This funding, he adds, comes from Manitoba Health, but is arranged through a service purchase agreement with SHSS. The current SHSS agreement did not include retroactive wages or benefits for employees.

“As a nonprofit, we do not have the resources to retroactively fund wages and benefits,” Parent continued. “SHSS remains a strong partner in supporting all our needs, including completing our negotiations.”

In his previous communications, Parent expressed optimism that senior leadership at SHSS could change their minds. If not, he noted that contingency plans were discussed among managers and non-union staff.

The latest update to family members and other stakeholders confirms that despite extensive discussions between the Heritage Centre, SHSS and Manitoba Health, the hoped-for additional funds were not approved.

“Our Essential Services Agreement mandates staffing levels for all three shifts for healthcare workers, housekeepers, laundry workers and recreation workers,” Parent said. “Other team members assigned different roles will work with those team members and other union employees.”

Parent welcomes family members who would like to volunteer their time to fill the gap. In the meantime, he adds that the Heritage Center will continue to negotiate for the rights of union workers.

“We want to provide them with the wages and benefits they deserve, but we can only do this with the help of the province,” Parent said.