New Brunswick Workers Demand Immediate Action to Address Staff Shortages in Seniors' Homes
The union reports that inspectors from the Department of Social Development, whose job it is to monitor the amount of time seniors are being cared for, are not getting an accurate picture of the situation. The inspector assigned to Résidences Jodin does not make surprise visits and each time he visits management brings in more staff. The workers ask, "Why doesn't the inspector compile the schedules of the employees over the last few months to show the minister what is really happening here?" The New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions (NBCNHU), which represents more than 4,600 nursing home workers, held an online press conference on September 27 to demand immediate action from the province to address the under-staffing crisis by implementing a $4.00 an hour pay increase for all workers in long-term care homes. Union leaders pointed out that the average wage for CUPE nursing home workers in New Brunswick is $21.00 per hour which is one of the lowest in the country. They cited the action taken in BC and Ontario and other jurisdictions to raise the wage rate for long-term care home workers early in the pandemic as part of measures to ensure that workers did not have to work multiple jobs in different homes to make a living, something that has not been done in New Brunswick.
The staff shortage in nursing homes has worsened over the course of the pandemic and workers are facing an impossible situation. While they continue to go above and beyond in their efforts to provide the care that seniors need they are unable to do so and the consequences to the health and safety of seniors and workers alike are devastating. The demand of the workers for immediate government action to address the problem of short-staffing deserves the support of everyone. (Photos: WF, NBCNHU)
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Seniors living in New Brunswick nursing homes are being denied basic
care because of the significant shortage of staff. For example, the
president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5108,
representing more than 225 workers at the Résidences Jodin home
in Edmunston, reports that residents are not getting the 2.89 hours of
direct daily care required under provincial government standards. "We
are running so short that the average direct care hours per resident is
closer to 1.8 hours per day. This is unacceptable and shameful," she
said. Another worker reported that on the weekend of September 11-12
there were only two workers for every 30 residents when the bare
minimum required is five.
At
the press conference union representatives said that the situation
brought to public attention by the workers at Résidences Jodin
was also happening in Bathurst, Saint John, Woodstock and many other
places. Sharon Teare, President of the NBCNHU explained, "Seniors
are going without baths for whole weeks, they stay in bed all day
and are even dying alone, because of serious short staffing. It's
getting worse as months go by." It should be noted that the 2.89 hours
that the province requires is also low, with most advocates calling for
a minimum of 4 hours of direct care per day.