EDMONTON- Staff at a west Edmonton seniors facility have voted in favour of a strike.
Approximately 65 nursing and support services employees from the Waterford at Summerlea seniors facility voted in favour of a strike, calling for fair compensation.
“We have been trying to negotiate a first collective agreement with the employer since the staff voted to join AUPE (Alberta Union of Provincial Employees) in November, 2011,” Dale Perry, staff negotiator with the AUPE, the union representing the workers, said in a media release Monday.
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“Given how long the employer has dragged this out, they felt they had no choice but to hold the strike vote,” Perry added.
The AUPE says support staff at the Waterford at Summerlea currently earn about 25 to 30 percent less than the industry standard, and nurses who are at the top of the pay range earn 25 percent less than the industry standard.
The strike mandate means the union can serve 72-hour strike notice to the employer at any time in the next 120 days. However, AUPE president Guy Smith says he hopes it doesn’t come to that.
“We still want to resolve this at the bargaining table, but the members are determined to get a fair deal,” Smith said in a media release. “These workers take pride in what they do and they have a strong bond with the people in their care, but they need to provide for their own families, too.”
The Waterford at Summerlea is a 142 -suite supportive living facility, which is owned by Chantelle Management Ltd., a B.C. Based company that operates facilities in Alberta, B.C. And California.
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