Extendicare long-term care workers may take job action after talks stall, CUPE says

Although legally not allowed to strike, ‘these workers are still able to employ other tactics and job actions’

Although not legally allowed to strike, Extendicare long-term care home workers in Sudbury may take other forms of job action if a contract is not reached, said the union representing the workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

A press release said members of CUPE’s central negotiation table are preparing for a summer of action after negotiations with Extendicare’s management team stalled this week.

A release from CUPE states the parties met at CUPE’s Ontario regional office to negotiate a new collective agreement for eight of CUPE’s Extendicare locals.

CUPE locals 1182, 1307, 1394, 2770, 2951, 3127, 3128, and 4788 serve seniors in Extendicare’s Sudbury, Timmins, Bayview, Oshawa, Tri-Town, Kapuskasing, and York facilities, among others.

Extendicare operates two facilities in Greater Sudbury, Extendicare York and Extendicare Countryside.

The release states the bargaining committee are returning to their communities to plan next steps with their members.

While Long-Term Care workers in Ontario fall under the Hospital Labour Relations Dispute Arbitration Act (HLDAA), which denies them the right to strike, per the union, “these workers are still able to employ other tactics and job actions to exercise their rights as workers.”

The release states CUPE is reviewing all possible legal avenues for action to pressure the employer to come back to the table. “Care can’t wait, and neither can these workers,” states the release.

The central table agreement frames the conditions for other Extendicare facilities across the province, representing more than 1,100 long-term care workers.

“Extendicare made $96.6 million in profits in 2025, this for-profit provider can afford to provide fair wages, good benefits, and correct the issues caused by their systems,” states the release. “Instead, they have withdrawn from bargaining without meaningful engagement, hoping instead to push the process to interest arbitration in the hopes that an arbitrator will force concessions on long term-care workers.”

The release states that the parties have not been able to “find common ground.”

“From scheduling, vacation, and pay issues caused by the implementation of the employer’s Human Resources management system Workday, to benefits and annual pay increases, the parties were unable to find common ground, despite working with a neutral conciliator,” reads the release.

“This delay will continue to impact long-term care workers who already have lower wages and lesser working conditions compared with other health care workers in other sectors.”

CUPE represents more than 30,000 long-term care and retirement home workers across the province.

The union said it has “consistently set the pattern followed by other unions bargaining in the Long-Term Care and Retirement sector in Ontario.”

Sudbury.com tracked issues at long-term care homes across Sudbury last year, including three Extendicare locations, and discovered a cease admissions order at Extendicare Countryside, though all compliance issues have now been resolved, said a representative for Extendicare.