Soon employees at Sunset Manor will vote on forming a union to negotiate with Chantelle Management Ltd.
On April 19 the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) applied to be certified with the Alberta Labour Relations Board as the bargaining agent for employees at the Level 3 and Level 4 supportive living facility with a dementia wing in Innisfail, which requires more than 40 per cent staff support.
“These workers want to get someone on their side to get a collective agreement,” said Jason Heistad, AUPE vice-president. “They want to have rules in place at the worksite.”
Chantelle Management Ltd. operates six seniors facilities in Alberta, B.C. and California. In December, the company signed an agreement with Edith Cavell Care Centre employees in Lethbridge allowing licensed practical nurses to earn a maximum of $32.63 per hour as of this fall, but has not been able to sort out differences with workers at Waterford of Summerlea in Edmonton's west end.
These employees voted to join AUPE in December 2011 and do not currently have a collective agreement in place. After a mediator was brought in to no avail, workers walked off the job April 5. Now Chantelle Management is facing accusations of dispute-related misconduct and employer interference with the labour board.
The union claims support staff wages are 25 to 30 per cent below the industry standard while nursing staff at the top of the pay range make 25 per cent below the industry standard. It also says agreeing on sick leave terms was also a major stumbling block.
“It's been a difficult time to get that first collective agreement,” Heistad said. “It's very rare in Alberta when this happens.”
According to Dan Galdamez, a labour relations officer at the Alberta Labour Relations Board, all Chantelle Management employees except registered nurses would be covered by an AUPE agreement in Innisfail, in the case of a successful vote.
Chantelle Management, a Langley, B.C.-based corporation, has failed to develop a collective agreement with workers at an assisted living facility in Edmonton after more than a year. Gord van der Eerden, executive director of Chantelle Management, said the company made a reasonable offer to Edmonton employees.
“Nobody wants a strike,” he said. “They chose to strike. They didn't feel we were offering a fair offer at the table. We disagreed.”
Innisfail workers will vote on their interest in forming a union in the next couple of weeks.
