Good Shepherd workers in Hamilton have given their bargaining team a strike mandate amid talks over staffing shortages that regularly result in double shifts at shelters as a housing crisis continues to unfold.
Low pay for high-stress positions amid the COVID-19 pandemic is also a major point of contention for members, says Jay Berberick, vice-president of CUPE Local 5167.
“It’s very mentally demanding,” Berberick said, noting workers can face multiple client overdoses in a single shift. “At these wages, they’re not going to come back to work.”
In fact, one staffer quit and found a job at Wal-Mart, where the pay is nearly the same and eight-hour shifts are consistent, he said.
A peer-support worker, for instance, starts at $16.82 an hour, reaching $20.42 after eight years on the job, Berberick noted.
“The services they provide — sometimes life-saving measures, providing supports to get people housed — these are all important,” he said of shelter and housing workers.
About 100 unionized workers in Good Shepherd’s family centre, women’s services and Reaching Home division — which finds housing for people staying in shelters — are involved in the labour talks.
Late Friday, 98 per cent of them voted in favour of the strike mandate, Local 5167 noted. This gives the bargaining team the green light to take job action if talks stall.
“We share the same concerns as the union,” said Sam Cino, chief officer of corporate strategy and human resources for Good Shepherd Centres.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased demands on the shelter sector, but the labour pool is limited, which has led to double shifts and staff turnover, Cino said.
“When you can’t find staff and it’s an emergency crisis shelter, you have to have somebody stay and pick up the hours. It’s not the ideal situation.”
If Good Shepherd paid higher wages, recruitment and retention would be less of a headache, Berberick suggested.
“I believe people would be more receptive to staying,” he said.
Cino acknowledged pay is an issue, pointing out the majority of Good Shepherd’s shelter workers make between $19.39 and $22.71 an hour.
But he said the agency’s “hands are tied” due to limited provincial funding and a wage cap imposed by recent legislation.
“Because of Bill 124, we can’t even pay more than one per cent per year in wages,” Cino said.
Bill 124, which led to 2019’s Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, limits wage increases to one per cent per year across a range of sectors that receive public funds, including social-service agencies.
If the provincial government repealed the legislation, Good Shepherd would be able to bargain beyond that modest increase, Cino said.
Other labour organizations, including those that represent nurses, have called on the Ontario government to walk back the wage cap.
The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Instead, a ministry spokesperson referred The Spectator’s request to the Treasury Board Secretariat, which didn’t respond by deadline.
Good Shepherd, which has about 550 employees overall in Hamilton, and the union have more talks scheduled for September.
Cino said he’s “not surprised” by the union’s vote in favour of a strike mandate, noting it’s not an uncommon move amid ongoing negotiations.
“We feel like we’ve been making progress towards a settlement,” he said.
Faced with double shifts, Hamilton Good Shepherd workers back strike mandate - TheSpec.com
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment