After putting off their strike until after Christmas holidays, some south end registered nurses are ringing in the new year on the picket line.
In a bid for better pay and benefits, about fifteen nurses from the Devonshire Care Centre walked off the job Monday afternoon.
The registered nurses want wages and benefits in line with what their counterparts make at Hardisty Care Centre, which is also run by their employer – Park Place Seniors Living.
Dozens of Devonshire LPNs, health care aids and support services served strike notice earlier this year for some of the same concerns. The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents those workers has specific instructions for them about how to handle this strike
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“We’ve instructed them that they’re not to do any work an RN would do. Not that they need any instruction – their sense of solidarity is strong because they went through a struggle themselves here,” says Guy Smith of the AUPE.
According to a spokesperson from Park Place Seniors Living, the employer can’t afford the wage grid the nurses are demanding.
Until the issue is resolved, Devonshire administrators will step in to care for residents. The employer is also looking to hire new Rns for the wages they want to keep paying.
The nurses say they’ll strike as long as it takes to get the contract they’re fighting for.
A spokesperson from Park Place Seniors Living claims it has put two comprehensive offers on the table, and was prepared to return to mediation January 10th with its best offer.
With files from Laurel Clark, Global News
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