Community supports CUPE long-term care workers by joining picket line
About a dozen people who live in the community of St. Peter’s joined the CUPE picket line today.
They came out to support the thousands of CUPE long-term care employees who are on strike fighting for higher pay.
The labour dispute is into its eighth week.
Vice President of Local 1782, Laurie Pottie, tells us she is thankful the community came out to support them.
“I feel like for the past seven weeks, we’ve been left alone out here on this line to fight for a fight that was never fair in the first place,” she explains.
Pottie says she and her peers from Richmond Villa in St. Peter’s support each other and boost morale by hugging and dancing on the picket line.
Dietary Aid, Donna Cavanagh, shares with us she believes staff needs to be paid a fair wage.
“This should have never happened. Support staff deserve more than $18.77 an hour. We’re almost to a minimum wage. That is absolutely ridiculous,” she expresses.
“Tim Houston and Barb Adams need to step up the plate and get us back to work, where we belong.”
Pottie and Cavanagh both believe arbitration is probably the best way to get to a resolution to this fight.
CUPE said the government’s offer was tabled and rejected on May 7.
On Wednesday, May 27, the province’s Chief Conciliation and Mediation Officer, Peter Lloyd, pulled the plug on discussions and there were no new dates set to resume negotiations.
The union said last week another long-term care home is set to join the strike that currently has over 3,600 workers walking the picket lines.
With files from Natalie Chiasson.