Contract-flipping cuts will be illegal in health-care sector
Current law allows union workers to be fired and then re-hired for less
VICTORIA B.C.’s NDP government is banning contract flipping at healthcare facilities, such as seniors care homes, where employees are often laid off and then rehired at lower wages.
Health Minister Adrian Dix introduced legislation Thursday that would repeal laws enacted by the previous Liberal government in 2002-03 that allowed unionized workers to be fired en masse and then hired for their same jobs with weaker contracts.
“Government-directed contracts, and really they are all government pay contracts provided with private contractors, will not be able to use driving down wages in this way as a way to control costs,” said Dix.
The changes would restore the rights of health-care workers to have their collective agreements and wages transferred when their employer — usually a contractor or subcontractor — changes.
Currently, the government provides public funding for beds inside private care facilities such at seniors homes, which then can contract or subcontract to hire care aides, janitors, housekeepers, maintenance workers and food service staff. If the private operator later changes contractors — often to save money — the entire workforce may be laid off and have to renegotiate their jobs at lower wages to do the same work.
The practice, known as contract flipping, has been well-document- ed in several B.C. cases, including Nanaimo’s Wexford Creek, where more than 140 employees were fired and rehired with lesser wages and benefits several times as the private care home changed contractors and ownership.
It has also been an issue in Lower Mainland care homes, including in Coquitlam, where more than 150 care-home workers were threatened with layoffs at two care homes after unionizing earlier this year.
Critics have said it not only makes for poor working conditions for staff, but also leads to uncertainty for frail seniors who have formed connections with their care providers.
The NDP legislation won’t ban the practice of health authorities providing public funds to private health-care facilities or those facilities then subcontracting the work.
“But they won’t be able to essentially lay everybody off and drive down wages,” said Dix. “So it will take the wage question out of those negotiations.”
The B.C. Care Providers Association, which represents private care operators, expressed qualified support.
“We support the intent of the legislation,” said spokesman Mike Klassen. “We support any efforts from government to try and make sure we address the crisis we’re facing in seniors care staffing. And we hope we have a clear understanding of the costs.”