Unionized Mariposa workers held an information picket in front of the seniors’ facility on Tuesday afternoon. (Keith Lacey photo)
The union representing 120 workers at the Mariposa Gardens residential care facility in Osoyoos are preparing for strike action.
Dozens of workers were carrying signs outside the facility located on Hwy. 97 across from the Buy-Low grocery store on Tuesday afternoon.
No specific date has been set to begin strike action, but the unionized workers are frustrated with the lack of progress in contract negotiations and have applied to the provincial labour board to get approval to begin action against their employer, said Tammy Garbutt.
The 120 workers belong to the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) Mariposa Gardens and they have been working without a contract since their three-year deal expired at the end of November, said Garbutt, a residential care aide who is chair of the union’s local bargaining committee, a shop steward and health and safety committee member.
“There has been very little progress in contract talks,” said Garbutt Tuesday afternoon. “The only thing management has moved on is some contract language in relation to overtime hours, some contract Workers Compensation Board language and a slight increase in statutory holiday pay.”
The biggest issue remains the lack of any progress on wages, which directly impacts the facility’s ability to retain staff, she said.
They have offered the staff a 0.62 per cent increase over three years, she said. “That is simply unacceptable.
“We’re already making $4 to $5 an hour less than workers with Interior Health doing the same jobs.”
The poor wages have led to four more unionized workers quitting their jobs at Mariposa Gardens within the past week “and those are only the four that I know about,” she said.
The unionized workers gave their negotiating team a 95 per cent strike mandate seven weeks ago and they are prepared to begin strike action once the labour board gives approval, she said.
The labour board has to address provisions under essential services language relating to residential care facilities, she said.
If strike action does begin within the next several days, members of the union will remain on the job to assist management in providing essential services, she said.
“We are going to make sure that the residents don’t suffer at all if we do go on strike,” she said. “We will have workers inside providing essential services and some of the managers are going to have to help provide those services.
‘We are going to be short staffed, but we have committed to ensuring none of the residents will be without the services they need.”
Deb Kamal-Ali, the chief negotiator for the union, said talks are continuing, but she is also frustrated with the lack of progress on wages and other key issues.
The 120 unionized workers are working under the same pay scale and conditions where many units are drastically understaffed due to the low wages that existed when the contract expired in late November, said Garbutt.
The union represents the vast majority of workers employed at Mariposa Gardens, including custodial, kitchen, nurses, maintenance and residential care aides, said Garbutt.
“The only people we don’t represent inside the building are doctors and management,” she said.
Kamal Ali said the union membership has made it very clear that Mariposa Gardens has had a longstanding problem with retaining quality staff because of heavy workloads and insufficient wages compared to the rest of the industry.
There are approximately 120 residents living in long-term care and another 30 in assisted living units at Mariposa Gardens, said Garbutt.
Mariposa Gardens is a wonderful facility with wonderful residents, but the workload and wage issues must be resolved to avoid possible strike action, said Ali.
If the province gives approval, strike action would begin any time in the next several days unless serious progress is made in negotiations, said Garbutt.
Will McKay, a spokesperson for Mariposa Gardens, could not be reached for comment by Tuesday’s press deadline.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
