Employees at Five Long Term Care Facilities Vote Overwhelmingly in Favour of New Contract

Cambridge, ON—Healthcare workers employed at five multilevel long term care facilities voted 98 percent in favour of ratifying a two-year collective agreement providing them with significant wage increases and numerous other improvements.

The employees of Brierwood Gardens in Brantford, Riverbend Place in Cambridge, Summit Place in Owen Sound, Telfer Place in Paris, and Trillium Court in Kincardine are represented by Grand River Valley Healthcare Workers Union, CLAC Local 305. The agreement is one of the union’s largest healthcare agreements in Ontario, covering about 550 members working in both long term care and retirement homes.

The new contract provides all employees with seven percent wage increases over the term. In addition, it includes a $2.50 per hour special adjustment for RPNs working in long term care and 50 cents per hour for those working in retirement homes. The agreement also provides benefits improvements and increases to the weekend premium.

“The union bargaining committee is proud of this round of bargaining,” says Susan Siemens, regional director of the union’s Cambridge Member Centre. “We were able to achieve both important monetary increases as well as improved language that addresses significant issues members have faced with the implementation of a new payroll system.”

“We haven’t seen wage increases this high in more than 15 years in long term care. The special attention given to RPN wage enhancements was particularly important, given the ongoing challenges in recruiting nurses into this sector.

“While there is always more work to be done to properly honour the work of our members in this sector, we are encouraged by this round of bargaining. We hope that this forward momentum continues in the years to come.”