Union members are outraged at a move by Shawnigan Lake’s Acacia Ty Mawr Lodge to contract out more than 30 jobs.

The company handed out 60-day layoff notices Monday, Jan. 23 to more than 30 workers at the seniors’ residential facility.

The move could put directlyemployed care aides, recreation aides, licensed practical nurses, and dietary, kitchen and laundry staff out of work as early as the end of March.

There has been a Hospital Employees’ Union contract in place at Acacia since 1989, and some of the workers there have been at the facility for more than 20 years, Margi Blamey, HEU communications officer, said Jan. 26.

The notice “came out of the clear blue sky,” she said, adding, “It’s quite a surprise to all the members there. They’re completely shocked.”

The owner of the facility has changed in the last four years or so, said Blamey.

Anita Powell, an Acacia care aide and one of two HEU shop stewards there, said Thursday that her workers had not yet had a chance to sit down with union and company representatives.

“It’s early days yet but they’re going to cut our wages evidently. The way it’s been going in other care facilities that Trillium Care Services owns, we know most of them are at quite a lower wage than we are and with no benefits and no pension,” she said.

Powell, a 14-year veteran at Acacia, said she knows she, for one, will be out of work.

“I’m not going to work for a lower wage to make the owner rich, because we know the owner and he’s a rich cat.”

Powell said there are 49 employees at Acacia and the union workers have had the chance to see the problems that result of contracting out jobs.

“We have contractors already in the maintenance and the housekeeping and it’s been a struggle,” she said.

Blamey said she thought the present owner acquired Acacia about the end of 2009 but before that a husband and wife ran it as a mom-and-pop operation.

Trillium is not the only company to make the move towards independent bargaining and contracting out.

“It’s been our experience that this has been quite common, particularly on Vancouver Island. Contracting out and then flipping those private contractors has become a bit of modus operandi for a lot of private owners of long-term care facilities,” Blamey said.

Whether employees leave Acacia depends a lot on the owner and what plans Trillium may have for filling the positions, according to Blamey.

“We’re hoping it’s a ‘let’s sit down and talk’ situation. My understanding of the people who do work at this facility in Shawnigan Lake is that many of them don’t actually live in Shawnigan Lake so they may pursue job opportunities closer to where they live,” she said.

The problem for residents, as has been shown over and over, is that the stable family-like atmosphere is eroded as contracted employees working at lower wages are continually seeking better-paying jobs, Blamey said.

She said after the shock of the job loss wore off, employees were worried about residents.

“I had one worker say to me: who’s going to know the lady in such and such a room likes her red sweater and that that’s the one that makes her feel most comfortable? It is all these little things,” Blamey said.

Calls to Acacia Ty Mawr Lodge and Trillium Care Services were not returned by press time.

Article source: http://www.canada.com/Acacia+seniors+home+workers+shocked+notices/6060608/story.html

Other Posts

Filed under: Daily Layoffs News

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!