This area could see a reduction in health care services next month if 250 community care workers go on strike.
Earlier this week negotiations between the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and the provinces Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) broke down as care coordinators sought wages equal to their counterparts in other areas of the sector, such as those at hospitals and long-term care homes.
ONA president Linda Haslam-Stroud says after three days of bargaining CCAC officials left the table and as a result a strike vote will be conducted on Jan. 29 prior to the Jan. 30 deadline.
“Their offer was despicable, frankly, and is not in keeping with the negotiations that have taken place in other sectors for our registered nurses across the province,” Haslam-Stroud said in a phone call to the Advertiser.
“It is not reflective of the value that care coordinators provide to the community.”
Because the workers are in a force-strike sector, if a collective agreement is not reached a strike is inevitable.
The main focus of the dispute is wages, with the ONA seeking normative increases and some other minor increases in benefits and/or premiums. The ONA says CCACs have not altered the stance they have been holding for months.
“We weren’t asking for the sky, we were asking for some normative increases and this employer is adamant that they basically are not willing to negotiate,” Haslam-Stroud said.
“Unfortunately we’re at a stalemate … we’re not even necessarily asking for the same wages, but we’re asking for the same kind of increase.”
Waterloo Wellington CCAC interim CEO Barry Monaghan told the Advertiser he has not given up hope that an agreement could be reached before the deadline.
“These conversations will continue until then … we’re very optimistic that it can and hopefully will be settled before then,” Monaghan said.
Those affected include registered nurses, registered practical nurses, occupational therapists, social workers and physiotherapists.
Throughout the province, such care coordination teams allow seniors to remain in their homes safely and patients to die at home with dignity. They also assist with transferring patients home after surgery and moving elderly residents into long-term care facilities.
“Your community is basically going to have all the community care coordination … cease,” Haslam-Stroud explained. “We’re very concerned hospitals are going to have to cancel surgeries because they’re not going to have the capacity to move the patients from the hospital back into the communities to receive care. We don’t want to be on any picket line. We want to be caring for them and we’re really, really disappointed that the employer has forced us into this position.”
Monaghan said he doesn’t foresee a strike causing massive service disruptions. He said only non-urgent procedures will likely experience delays, along with those currently involved in the referral or care application process.
“Most current patients would continue to receive service … [but] new patients referred from the hospital or community may experience some delays,” he said.
“New applications would not be accepted during the strike and referrals for mental health and addiction services would not be accepted.”
Additionally, he said, “home and school visits by CCAC employees wouldn’t be able to continue.”
Monaghan emphasized that in the event of a strike, CCAC phone lines will be open from 8:30am to 8:30pm seven days a week to answer questions or concerns from the public.
“The key focus of our attention is the safety and wellbeing of the patients that are in service,” he said. “Continuity of care is essential and we’ll make sure that the most complex patients get the care they need.”
