Unionized Mariposa workers held an information picket in front of the seniors’ facility on last week. (Keith Lacey photo)
A mediator will be meeting Thursday with both sides in a labour dispute involving 120 unionized workers at the Mariposa Gardens residential care facility in Osoyoos.
Will McKay, the managing partner for Baybridge/Baltic Properties, said Monday that both sides will meet with the mediator Thursday morning at the Holiday Inn as they attempt to reach an agreement that will head off a strike.
“We’re optimistic that we can resolve this issue quickly and co-operatively, because nobody wants to drag these things out,” said McKay. “We’ve gone though mediation in the past with other care homes that we own and with other unions and usually you come to a conclusion pretty quickly. To be perfectly honest, it takes the emotion out of things and these guys are very good at bringing parties together and coming up with agreeable deals.”
The 120 unionized employees have been working without a contract since late November.
Last week union negotiators said they were upset with the lack of progress.
Tammy Garbutt, a residential care aide who is chair of the union’s bargaining committee, said last week that the best offer provided by management was 0.62 per cent over three years, “which is totally unacceptable.”
McKay said there was some job action on Friday, including a short picketing session and a work to rule for a few hours, but that stopped Friday afternoon and there were no stoppages or disruptions since.
“Everybody with both the union employees and the employer acted in a professional and co-operative manner and things went quiet over the weekend,” McKay said.
He noted that the union accepted mediation, which he saw as a positive sign.
“Everybody just wants this thing to be settled in an agreeable and professional fashion,” McKay said.
The 120 workers gave the union’s negotiators 95-per-cent support for a strike mandate nearly two months ago, Garbutt said last week.
Workers at Mariposa Gardens are making $4 to $5 an hour less than workers employed by Interior Health who do the same kind of work, Garbutt said.
If strike action does begin, Garbutt said members of the union will remain on the job to assist management in providing essential services.
“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.”
The union represents the vast majority of workers employed at Mariposa Gardens, including custodial, kitchen, nurses, maintenance and residential care aides.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
With files from Keith Lacey.
