CANADIAN LABOUR MANITOBA:

NURSES UNION TAKES CARE HOME TO COURT:

Molly has blogged before on the union busting tactics of the Kildonan Personal Care Home here in Winnipeg. As the following new story from the CBC relates management's tactic of redefining workers as "management" seems to have reached some record height in this case where there will be 14 workers and 13 managers. The Manitoba Nurses Union has filed a case with the provincial labour board. We can only wish them well. This sort of scenario belongs on a Monty Python sketch.

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Union busting alleged at care home

The Manitoba Nurses Union is accusing a Winnipeg care home of union busting and is taking its case to the provincial labour board.

Last November, a group of nurses at the Kildonan Personal Care Centre joined a union. Their positions were recently eliminated but the company has now reposted the jobs.

However, the jobs are now classified as management positions, which makes them ineligible for union representation, according to MNU president Sandy Mowat.

"They reposted them, adding some little added duties to them to make them what they believe are management-type positions now," she said.

"And then they're saying that because they're manager positions they don't belong in the union."

If all position are filled as management, there will be 13 managers overseeing 14 nurses at the facility, Mowat said.

The labour board will hear the case in November.

The 120-bed personal care home is located on Henderson Highway in North Kildonan.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/08/10/mb-union-busting-care-home-winnipeg.html#ixzz0wGUTaJm4

CANADIAN LABOUR MANITOBA:

UNION BUSTING MANITOBA STYLE:

This one is probably a bit dated. The relevant events belong to last month, and it was duly reported in the local press, at least briefly. The story is an old and hoary one about how management fends off union organization by declaring portions of their employees as "managers" even if their supervisory actions rarely extend beyond seeing that their shoelaces are tied. Managers, of course, are out of the sphere of union bargaining, and they can be squeezed to the hilt if they are actually workers who have taken this legal loophole on the chin. The case, however, is hardly over as can be seen from below where , at least in my mind, there could be some doubt about the legality of what the real management has done in the face of a Labour Board ruling that authorized the MNU to represent the people involved. Still, you have to hand it to those "caring" social service bureaucrats for trying every possible avenue to avoid disgorging a few more shekels. Oh, they "care" so much. here's the story from the website of the Manitoba Nurses' Union.

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Nurses lose jobs after Union obtains certification
Nine nurses from the Kildonan Personal Care Centre have had their positions eliminated after seeking representation from the Manitoba Nurses Union for the purpose of collective bargaining. MNU is taking legal action against the employer. During an initial meeting in November 2009 with representatives of the MNU, the Centre’s Resident Care Coordinators, raised concerns about workload issues, salary, lack of shift and weekend premiums as well as proper overtime provision.

MNU agreed to represent the nurses and on January 8,2010 filed an application for certification pursuant to the provisions of the Labour Relations Act, in order to obtain an automatic certification to bargain a collective agreement for these nurses.

The employer claimed that the Resident Care Coordinators were in fact managers and were not appropriate to be unionized because they were performing “primarily management” functions.

The MNU disputed this allegation and description of the work actually being performed. Hearing dates were set by the Labour Board to determine whether the nurses were eligible to join the MNU for collective bargaining and representation rights, but shortly before the scheduled hearing the employer withdrew their objection to the application.

On May 17, 2010 the Labour Board issued a certification order enabling these nurses to be represented by the MNU. After a five month ordeal, the nurses had a victory – or so they thought.

Three days later, on May 20,2010, Revera Living, the corporation that runs Kildonan Personal Care Centre, eliminated the position of Resident Care Coordinator, thereby terminating all of the members of the newly certified bargaining unit, effective August 20,2010.

After terminating these nurses the employer posted Resident Care Manager positions which contain many shifts, duties, and responsibilities which appear similar to those of the eliminated positions.The terminated nurses have been offered the chance to apply for these positions, but there is no guarantee that these nurses will even be considered for the newly created positions.

The employer alleges the new “manager” jobs will meet the test to keep these positions excluded from being unionized in the future. The MNU shall continue to monitor and communicate with all nurses in the eight Revera Living workplaces and requests that all interested nurses continue to communicate with us in regard to representation.

CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG:

A WOBBLY OFFER:

As many Winnipegers know nurses at St. Boniface Hospital have voted in favour of strike action though no definitive date has been set. The Winnipeg Wobbly Blog has an article on this, and, just like in the Manitoba Hydro strike, they are opening up their blog to comments from the workers affected. Here's the story and the offer.

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St. Boniface nurses vote to strike and the 'Wobbly Offer':
This is something we will be following in the up coming weeks.

CBC News - Manitoba - St. Boniface nurses vote to strike

Nurses at Winnipeg's St. Boniface General Hospital have voted 78 per cent in favour of strike action but have not set a strike deadline.

A little more than a third of the 1,400 nurses who work at the hospital voted Monday.

The president of the Local 5 of the Manitoba Nurses Union, Debbie Mintz, said Monday night there is no plan to strike just yet.

"Our intention is to return to the table to negotiate in February and for the rest of the dates that are scheduled, with an empowerment by the nurses at St. Boniface to get a final contract that does not include the rollbacks," Mintz said.

Mintz said the hospital wants concessions on overtime and the awarding of positions on the basis of seniority.

She said the contract has for 35 years awarded positions on the basis of seniority provided nurses meet qualifications.

"We certainly know that 78 per cent of the nurses that turned up here tonight are adamant that the final contract should not have rollbacks in [it]," she said.

The nurses have been without a contract since the end of last September.
Read more:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/02/02/nurses-strike.html#ixzz0eUzCjSdu

::::THE WOBBLY OFFER:::

We would also like to send out a call to all members of the Manitoba Nurses Union: We want to here from you! This blog is a blog for, by, and about workers, so we want to hear your experiences at work, your feelings on the strike vote, gripes with the unions and the bosses, anything coming up. This is your soap box! Drop us an email at: winnipegiww@hotmail.com .

CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG:

DIGNITY DENIED:

The following is from the website of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), many of whose members work at nursing homes here in Winnipeg and elsewhere.

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Winnipeg families speaking out on nursing home shortages:

A Manitoba study last year reported that the ratio of patients to staff was 80 to one

Winnipeg (3 Nov. 2008) - The families of patients requiring nursing home care in Winnipeg are speaking out about the inability of overworked staff to provide the care levels their loved ones need. There are simply not enough workers, no matter how dedicated they are, to provide quality care to all residents.

This is an issue that the National Union of Public and General Employees has been working hard to address in all parts of the country. The union recently published a report entitled Dignity Denied: Long-term Care and Canada's Elderly.

"The annual turnover rate among direct care nursing home staff typically runs at 20% for nurses and 40% for health care aides," NUPGE president James Clancy noted at the time. "Health science professionals such as dietitians, therapists and social workers are often treated as frills and the first to be disposed of when budget cuts are implemented."

Darlene Dowse, a former care-home nurse, says she became aware of the problem after placing her father in St. Adolphe Personal Care Home in 2006, and later moving him to Meadowood Manor. He has since passed away at age 81.

Despite having been an athlete into his senior years, her father's condition deteriorated badly after he was placed in nursing home care and Dowse says she knows the reasons why.

"A health care aide at that facility spoke to me," she told CBC News. "One night, or one evening, two health care aides had to look after 44 clients. That's ridiculous. How can you give good care? How can you even give the basics?"

MNU study

The Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) released a study last year documenting similar - and worse - conditions in many institutions. For example, it found that for many night-shift nurses, the ratio of patients to staff was 80 to one.

Ollie Ewert, who has spent more than a decade working as a psychiatric nurse in Winnipeg nursing homes, was also interviewed by the CBC. She said at one of her placements, staff members were run literally off their feet, some working as long as 32 hours in a row, or in another case 19 days in a row.

"Staff were fearful of expressing their concerns for fear of retaliation," Ewert said.

The Manitoba government has committed $40 million to hire an additional 400 staff at nursing homes across the province over four years. About 120 are already at work.

But Ray Koop, spokesman for Meadowood Manor, told the CBC that problems persist despite the extra help. "Even though we have additional funds to provide additional staffing, it continues to be a problem trying to recruit nurses and health care aides, especially," he said.

NUPGE

More information:

● NUPGE publication - Dignity Denied: Long-term Care and Canada's Elderly - pdf

● Commentary by NUPGE President James Clancy