Negotiations stall on living wage increases for general support staff
Optima is trying to break our solidarity and pit us against each other.
Optima wants General Support Services staff to get raises that are only half as much as the Nursing Care staff. Can you believe it?
They think paying AUPE members a living wage of $20.85 per hour is unreasonable.
Well, we think it is unreasonable that Optima makes huge profits by increasing resident fees while refusing to pay us living wages.
Their plan is not going to work.
We are united and strong. We all respect each other and believe in solidarity. We know General Support Services are a vital part of providing quality care for seniors, and Nursing Care members refuse to leave support staff behind.
They also rejected our proposals to protect us from inflation by adding an automatic Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for our wages.
The employer also said it would be a “hard no” to our proposal of a ‘me too’ agreement.
Not only should our wages match health care industry standards, but we also deserve to be protected against inflation in these uncertain times. By rejecting a ‘me too’ agreement the employer is essentially saying our work is somehow less valuable than our fellow AUPE members employed by AHS.
We’ve tentatively agreed to the following items:
- Benefit improvements
- Vacation improvements
- Faster fixes when staff are underpaid
- A new wage grid for Health Care Aides and Licensed Practical Nurses
Please contact your negotiating team for more information or if you have questions.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – YARROW WILDROSE
Stella Diaz
sbangalisan.24@gmail.com
780-721-6496
Inna Tarady
innataradai53@gmail.com
780-884-6280
Praveena Naidu
praveena.narayan@hotmail.com
780-721-3841
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Merryn Edwards de la O, Negotiations
m.edwardsdelao@aupe.org
