EDMONTON – The Government of Alberta (GOA) and employers, including CBI Home Health in Edmonton, are consistently failing homecare workers and clients. Despite the GOA’s commitment to grow the homecare sector, the $81 million in additional funding that was promised in June has yet to materialize. Workers are being left in precarious conditions without a guarantee of their wages, hours, and benefits.
“The government announced this funding in June, and we haven't heard a thing from them since their call for proposals. Workers in this industry deserve to know what's going on,” says AUPE vice-president Susan Slade. “Working and caring conditions are hinging on this funding and, in the case of CBI Home Health, bargaining for improved compensation has been delayed because of the lack of information about funding.”
It is not just the funding; homecare is suffering from a complete lack of transparency and regulation. CBI workers are concerned that a possible influx of funding will not address the core problems in their working conditions or improve care for their clients.
“In the past, employers like CBI Home Health have taken public dollars intended to compensate the tireless efforts of healthcare workers and not been transparent about how those dollars are allocated,” says Slade. “Moving forward, we need government oversight and assurance that the public funds CBI receives will be spent to improve working and caring conditions.”
AUPE members are calling on our new Premier and the Minister of Health to give homecare the attention that it deserves. Homecare is essential to clients because it allows them to stay in their own homes and maintain a degree of autonomy and independence. Members are also calling on employers like CBI Home Health to be open about how public funding is being spent and to commit to using that funding to improve working conditions and client care.
For more information, please contact Communications Officer Kavi Chahal at k.chahal@aupe.org or 780-729-5108.