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A Winnipeg retirement home is being accused of union-busting after dozens of health-care aides received termination notices just as they became certified members.
About 70 of the 80 health-care aides that work at Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence received termination notices Monday morning, Canadian Union of Public Employees Manitoba president Gina McKay told CBC News.
The notices were sent shortly after the Manitoba Labour Board certified CUPE as the bargaining agent for the workers Monday, she said.
“It’s union-busting and full retaliation,” McKay told CBC News on Monday evening. “It was an illegal action by the employer, and no one in Manitoba should get fired for joining a union.”
McKay said the union will file an unfair labour practice complaint to the labour board if the facility does not rescind the termination letters.
“We’re looking for a full reinstatement of these workers.”
All Seniors Care Living Centres operates the facility. It also runs six other retirement homes in Manitoba and more in Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec, its website says.
The facility offers assisted and independent living units in Winnipeg’s Tuxedo area, as well as “memory care” services for residents with dementia.
CBC News has reached out to Toni Hudson, the facility’s executive director, for comment but did not hear back before publication.
‘Unaware that this was coming’
Robyn Powell, CUPE’s national organizer in Manitoba, says the termination notices are not immediate but most staff would lose their jobs before the end of August.
“Some will have more time than others to be able to, hopefully, find other employment, or we have the opportunity to deal with this at the labour board in a timely fashion,” she said.
Powell worries about what the notices mean for the 210 residents who call the facility home.
“My heart goes out to these families and residents who, from all indications, were also very unaware that this was coming down the pike,” she said.
“They’re going to be in a situation where they have to find alternative care within a shorter time period.”