Nursing Home Workers Victims of Health Care Cuts

by Simone Hoedel
(published November 1994 in the Prairie Dog)

Five years ago they were pumped up to believe they were the ultimate in health care.

"Now," says nursing home worker Charlene Crosby, "they're throwing us out the window."

Crosby, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), is one of almost 60 CUPE members at Santa Maria Nursing Home in southwest Regina affected by layoffs which went into effect Oct 2.

Twenty-seven LPNs were served layoff notices in August after the union refused to negotiate an option to reclassify LPN positions to Nurse's Aides (NA) positions.

LPNs are graduates of a one-year training program, are certified professionally, and receive almost $2 an hour more than NAs, who require no training.

Most of the LPNs were offered jobs in the home, but at the NA level, with a pay cut of $310 per month.

Union representative Tom Crosby said this tactic by management is simply "reclassification by subterfuge," and he says it's happening throughout our health care system.

Tom Crosby, an NA at Santa Maria, said, "They're trying it in ten different areas of the province, mainly in hospitals, laying people off and hiring them back for different wage rates. They're trying to set a precedent here."

CUPE local 2569, representing nursing home workers at Santa Maria, has voted to go on strike if the employer doesn't seriously re-consider its plan.

Tom Crosby said that as chairperson of the Nursing Home Workers Council of Unions he represents 45 other nursing homes around the province, and he's never seen an employer so determined before.

"It's a sad case," said Tom Crosby. "I think there's going to be job action, and I don't want to do it."

The union has charged management at Santa Maria with unfair labour practices. Tom Crosby said the employer cannot unilaterally change wage rates, conditions of employment or terms of conditions while the parties are under collective bargaining.

At the October 4 hearing, union lawyer Wayne McIntyre argued that the employer failed to bargain collectively and used "subterfuge" to undermine the collective agreement by reclassifying workers at a lower pay rate.

Management lawyer Larry LeBlanc said the layoffs and rehirings were not a reclassification but a reorganization, and that the union had no right to file for unfair labour practices. LeBlanc said the union should have filed a grievance against the employer instead.

Bev Olineck, Executive Director at Santa Maria, admitted that the change in staffing mix was an attempt to get more workers on the floor at less cost.

"We were projecting a budget deficit this year of $100,000," said Olineck, and we made some operational decisions to address that deficit."

In fact, the 1994-95 management plan for Santa Maria proposed an increase in staffing from 59 to 64 positions, but while there are five fewer full-time positions, part-time positions have increased from 11 to 21.

The staffing mix has also changed. Before the changes, which went into effect October 2, almost three-quarters of the nursing home staff were LPNs, with the remainder working as NA. Now three quarters of the staff are working at the lower-paying NA level.

Charlene Crosby said these reclassified LPNs are doing basically the same job as before.

"They still have these LPNs in the building, but they classify them as NAs," she said. "You're getting qualified staff and you 're not paying them (what they're entitled to.)"

A decision on the unfair labour practices dispute is expected early this month.

Simone Hoedel is a Regina writer