Group home workers, management to resume bargaining

The head of the union representing about 75 group home workers embroiled in a labour dispute with their employer wants the provincial government to boost community-based organization funding with the aim of preventing future strikes.

“It’s inadequate, and I don’t think employers would disagree with that,” Service Employees International Union (SEIUWest) president Barbara Cape said Thursday in an interview, one day after the parties agreed to resume bargaining.

“The call-out for us is that the government of Saskatchewan really needs to double down on their funding in this sector, because this is the absolute threads of the social safety net. If we are not funding properly, then a huge gap is developing.”

The dispute began last week when the SEIU-West members, most of whom are part-time or casual employees at Elmwood’s 12 group homes in Saskatoon and have not had a raise in four years, issued a 48-hour strike notice and subsequently withdrew some services.

Elmwood responded by declaring the strike “illegal” and filing an unfair labour practices complaint against the union with the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board. It claimed the union provided essential services, a position SEIUWest disagreed with.

According to executive director Colleen Stenhouse, Elmwood plans to continue the complaint process but has agreed to meet with union officials. Stenhouse said in an email she is waiting for SEIUWest to provide possible meeting dates.

Cape said the objective of the workers, who have been without a contract since December 2015, is to negotiate a new collective agreement with Elmwood, ideally one that finds savings in operations that can be redirected to employees’ paycheques.

“From what I understand from Elmwood’s comments in the last couple days, I think they’re motivated, but I can guarantee you that our members are motivated to get a collective agreement. They want to put this dispute behind them and move forward,” Cape said.

Elmwood received $8.1 million from the Ministry of Social Services last year. Cape said the workers are funded to $19.40 per hour, but their last collective agreement shows wages beginning at $11.20 per hour, meaning more transparency is needed as well.

Ministry of Social Services spokeswoman Leya Moore said in an email the government has invested more than $30 million to help community-based organizations increase wages over the last 10 years.

“Our community-based partners are autonomous organizations responsible for making decisions regarding their annual budgets and expenditures,” Moore wrote.