Workers at a nursing home in Wallaceburg are calling on a fair and equitable collective agreement with their employer as negotiations between the two sides reach a standstill.
On Tuesday afternoon, members of Unifor Local 2458 held a rally outside of Fairfield Park.
According to Unifor Local 2458 President Tullio DiPonti, the two sides have been negotiating the terms of the agreement since the end of October. DiPonti said that bargaining came to a standstill the last time the two sides met, around three weeks ago.
"They didn't want to bargain," he said. "All they wanted to do was give us what the arbitration award that was handed out a year and a half ago in 2019, which had nothing to do with what's happening today with the pandemic."
DiPonti said the employer came to the bargaining table demanding six pages of "unfair" concessions.
According to DiPonti, the union was told to either accept the list of concessions, which he said included giving workers less pay than what the provincial government is providing as pandemic pay, or the negotiations would go into conciliation.
DiPonti said the terms that the employer presented are unacceptable, especially given the timing of COVID-19.
"It's horrible," he said. "They're working short... They're working with fear because they're afraid to take this pandemic to their own homes. It's sickening to know the government is out there championing that [front line workers] are heroes meanwhile, this employer doesn't care."
Negotiations going into conciliation would mean that a third-party neutral conciliator would be appointed to help the union and employee reach an agreement. However, DiPonti said this will be more of a formality as the union will not be accepting any demands from the employer and the next step will be negotiations going into arbitration.
"In the meantime, these workers still go to work, do their job, take all the risks that they have to take to take care of these residents," he said.
Besides fair pay, DiPonti said the union is also asking for improved benefits and fair time off so that workers can avoid burn out.
Fairfield Park is privately owned and shares the same management as Brouillette Manor in Tecumseh, where a similar rally was held last week.
"The purpose of the rallies is to share solidarity with the workers and also let the public know what's going on in long-term care because it has to change," said DiPonti.
In an emailed statement to Blackburn News, Fairfield Park Administrator Tracey Maxim confirmed that the two sides will be asking an arbitrator to settle the settle differences.
"The union and the employer met to negotiate the terms and conditions of a renewal collective agreement," said Maxim. "We were not able to come to an agreement so the parties will be proceeding to binding interest arbitration."