A number of people were out Friday to protest the move of a seniors’ home in Durham Region.
The home operator, Durham Christian Homes (DCH), is moving their Bowmanville location to a new building in Whitby.
Workers say the company that manages Glen Hill Marnwood Retirement Home has decided to layoff dozens of employees and force them to reapply for their own jobs at a lower rate.
“I received a termination letter five times,” says Sharon Noble, who has worked at Marnwood for nearly 37 years.
“I’ve been terminated — that’s the term they used. It’s pretty humiliating and insulting.”
She is one of 60 employees that are set to lose their jobs come next year.
Noble joined several members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) as they rallied outside Whitby MPP Lorne Coe’s office, then taking their car rally to the new site.
“We’re very sad. I’ve had residents crying on my shoulders because we’re not going to Whitby,” says Noble.
“This was after we did everything right,” she adds, noting staff were able to keep residents safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. “No COVID in the building. All my friends are working so hard and still we’re fired.”
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“That is just no way to treat any of the front-line heroes that have gotten us through the last pandemic,” says Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.
Hahn says they asked the province for help but claims the politicians wanted to stay out of it.
“They said they don’t want to get involved in a labour dispute,” says the union president. “But this is not a dispute. This is about quality of care for seniors and about a government that recognizes we have a broken long-term care system.
“It’s heartbreaking that seniors who relied on the care of folks that built bonds with them will now have to reestablish bonds with new people,” Hahn adds.
Coe said in a statement to Global News that they are here to support workers who lost their jobs, but they can’t get themselves in the middle of the disagreement.
“As labour relations may appear before the courts, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics of this situation,” says a spokesperson from Coe’s office.
DCH says some jobs have already been offered to existing employees, but several employees at the rally said there won’t be a position for them, claiming the company is outsourcing their jobs.
The union confirms the company offered to carry staff over to the new building — but says they were demanding concessions in their collective agreement, including wage freezes and clawing back benefits.
“I think they deserve much more than that,” says Hahn. “That an employer would ask them to take one penny less is shameful.”
In a statement emailed to Global News, DCH chief executive officer Ruth McFarlane said they recognize the hard work of employees and offered to voluntarily recognize the union at the new location.
“We proposed to maintain all existing employees’ wages and seniority in order to provide job security,” says McFarlane.
The non-profit organization also said accepting the terms that were laid out by the union would have resulted in adverse effects for residents and affected the quality of care.
“The proposal from the union will cut staff and compromise the care levels that we have worked tirelessly to maintain,” says McFarlane.
The CUPE president disagrees with McFarlane’s statement.
“It is just not true that there is not enough money to continue this agreement, just not true that there is not enough money to pay these workers the same they are receiving today,” says Hahn, adding that members will again take their fight to the province.
The province announced an investment of more than $16 million into the Glen Hill Terrace development last month.
DCH says a number of employees have already been employed at their Glen Hill Terrace location in Whitby and encourage all employees at Marnwood to apply.
Caught in the middle are the residents and their families who are unsure about the future.
“It’s a lot farther for us to come,” says Rob Hilditch, whose 91-year-old mother stays in Bowmanville. “We come to the nursing home three times a day to help mom and other staff. It’s just not possible to do that when she is in Whitby.”
The new building is set to be complete by next year.
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