It’s time to show strength; prepare to attend AGM on March 21
Local 047/Chapter 059
All staff
Bargaining for a collective agreement with Chartwell Emerald Hills has continued to be frustrating in the face of intransigence and incompetence from the employer.
At our last meeting on March 3, we let the employer know how frustrated members are over the chaos at the workplace. We’re trying to bargain a set of rules and processes that work for members and the employer, but the employer either won’t reveal or doesn’t have policies to ensure smooth operations.
For example:
- Working short: Members are overworked and often have fewer staff on hand than required to adequately do their jobs. This problem is made worse by scheduling issues, but the employer has refused to hire a scheduler.
- Staff calling in sick: Members are required to call in when sick, but management seems to have no clear process to find replacements, leaving staff to scramble last minute to fill sick calls. Indeed, the manager who is supposed to take those calls often has their phone switched off. This adds to existing workload problems.
- Parking: Chartwell has dozens of available parking stalls on site that are not being used by residents. It says these can be used by workers at the discretion of management (who are allowed to park in the parkade), but they chose to deny staff access to these spaces. Instead, management has advised workers to park about one kilometre away at a Walmart and are impervious to concerns such as safety and neighbourhood snow-removal parking bans.
Management seems to have abdicated its responsibilities in many areas. The union requested the full policies and procedures back in May, and we reminded Chartwell they still have yet to provide this information. Their failure to even disclose existing policies and procedures is disrespectful to members who work hard on the front lines of care.
At our bargaining meeting, Chartwell put forward a response to the Union’s ingoing non-monetary proposals that failed to address our key concerns. In fact, their proposals are far out of the norm compared to other unionized seniors care facilities. For example, in their proposal for a layoff and recall procedure, they expect laid off workers to reapply for their jobs instead of being recalled on the basis of seniority.
The next bargaining date has been scheduled for April 12. At that time, we will respond to the Employer’s non-monetary positions. We will be insisting that our members at Emerald Hills will be treated no differently than workers at other unionized care facilities.
Meanwhile, to keep pushing a difficult and stubborn employer, we need to show our strength more than ever. There are vacancies in some important union positions, including on the negotiating team. This is your chance to have your say and make the union stronger in your workplace.
You can find out more at your Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 11 a.m. on March 21. This will be a virtual event. You can attend via Zoom.
JOIN ZOOM MEETING:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89990488884?pwd=dUhJVG5hTWo1aHN5QzMvL0tWbzBoQT09
MEETING ID: 899 9048 8884
PASSCODE: 607264
CALL IN: 1-587-328-1099
We need you to continue to let us know about any concerns or problems you have, even if you think you’re beginning to sound like a broken record. The more information we have, the better we can press for solutions.
Please contact a member of your bargaining team.
AUPE Chartwell Emerald Hills negotiating committee
Teresa Shesky: 780-240-6183 or sa2197@hotmail.com
Kayleigh McCaskill: 780-691-5808 or kayleighmccaskill95@hotmail.com
Alternate
Whitney Rosborough: 780-860-4019 or whitney_rosborough1987@outlook.com
AUPE Resource Staff
Merryn Edwards, Negotiations: 780-952-1951 or m.edwards@aupe.org
Guy Quenneville, Membership Services Officer (MSO): 780-237-8253 or g.quenneville@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizing: 403-634-8262 or m.szalynski@aupe.org
Terry Inigo-Jones, Communications: t.inigo-jones@aupe.org