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<\/a><\/a>\nEight CUPE local unions representing 1,100 long-term care staff are currently in bargaining with Extendicare. The employees are calling on the for-profit corporation to address chronic understaffing, low wages and inadequate benefits - issues directly tied to resident care. Extendicare previously withdrew from talks in early April, leading to a three-month standstill in contract negotiations.<\/p>
\nExtendicare is one of Canada\u2019s largest private long-term care providers. Last year, the company made over $96 million dollars in profits, while long-term care workers - a workforce that is both predominantly women and disproportionately racialized - continue to be undervalued and under-resourced.<\/p>
\nIn Ontario, health care workers are denied the right to strike. This has allowed employers to side-step negotiations and ignore the concerns of workers who are already facing multiple systemic barriers.<\/p>
\nLong-term care workers take on physically demanding jobs to provide quality care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.<\/p>
\n\u201cLong term care workers don\u2019t do this work because we want to get rich. We do it because we care about our residents, we care about our communities. But right now, we can\u2019t keep up,\u201d said Lisa Freeman, president of CUPE 4788, representing Extendicare Oshawa workers.<\/p>
\nWhen facilities are understaffed, staff are forced to fill in the gaps. This has a direct impact on the level of care that residents receive.<\/p>
\n\u201cUnderstaffing affects our ability to provide timely and consistent care to our residents. Residents need assistance with basic things, like eating, walking, using the toilet, taking baths, and getting into bed. Staffing levels directly impact the quality of life, and in many cases, residents suffer when there are not enough workers to help them,\u201d Freeman added.<\/p>
\nThe result: long-term care workers put their own health and wellbeing on the line in an occupation that already faces increased rates of violence and injury on the job.<\/p>
\nExtendicare is trying to force employees to accept longer hours, precarious working conditions, and below-inflation wage increases. Low compensation poses a recruitment and retention issue, driving workers out of the sector. This contributes to understaffing, overwork and burnout, at a moment when an aging population places growing demand on long-term care services. In response, employers pivot to a casual work force, impacting job security and continuity of care.<\/p>
\nFor the past eight years these 1,100 workers have been bargaining as a collective unit for a \u2018central contract\u2019, aiming to set the standard for the sector. They are fighting for a living wage and improvements to health benefits to support themselves and their families within a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>
\nHistorically, the CUPE \u2018central\u2019 contract with Extendicare sets the pattern for long-term care workers across the province. Suppressed wages and benefits won\u2019t just impact Extendicare workers, they will affect the entire workforce of more than 100,000 long-term care workers in Ontario.<\/p>
\nWhat: <\/b>CUPE Extendicare LTC workers rally for a fair contract<\/p>
\nWho: <\/b>Lisa Freeman, president of CUPE 4788, representing Extendicare Oshawa workers\n
\nWhen: <\/b>Monday, June 29 at 10:00 am<\/p>
\nWhere: <\/b>Extendicare Head Office<\/p>
\n3000 Steeles Ave. East, Markham<\/p>
\n-30-<\/p>
\n\u00a0<\/p>
\n;js\/cope491<\/p>