MONCTON, N.B. – The union representing workers contracted for housekeeping, food and laundry services in New Brunswick’s Shannex retirement facilities say they’ve been left out of a wage top-up program.
Carl Flanagan, national representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers, says the workers are employed by Compass Canada and contracted by the Shannex facilities.
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Flanagan said Monday the workers were left out of a program funded by the federal government that would boost their monthly take-home pay by up to $500.
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She says their jobs start at $14.70 an hour, which she says is not easy to live on in New Brunswick.
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A spokesperson for the Department of Social Development said in an email the program ended earlier this month and employees of third-party contractors were not eligible.
Flanagan says the workers should be paid retroactively and that they took the same risks working on the front lines in a pandemic as employees with companies that did qualify.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2020.
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