Would you work 8 hours to be paid for 5.5? Some home care workers do

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A Manitoba health-support worker is calling out the province for unpaid wages and poor benefits as a strike looms.

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In a letter to Premier Wab Kinew and Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Uzoma Asagwara, health-care aid and NDP supporter Naomi Desender said that working causal shifts is financially “not worth it.”

In a regular shift, Desender is scheduled for eight hours. She is given a route and client addresses. She is allocated required time to spend with each client. She then drives to the next location. In an eight-hour shift, she spends around five and a half hours with clients. Travelling and scheduled breaks make up the remainder of her hours, she wrote.

“When we work a casual shift, we are not paid for the eight hours we are scheduled for,” wrote the MGEU member in her letter. “We are paid for the time we spend with the clients only. We do receive a mileage rate, but we are not paid for the time it takes for us to travel to each home. The premiums for evening and weekend shifts are only included when we are with the clients, not driving, regardless if it is a casual shift or not.”

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Desender wants Manitoba Health and the MGEU to reach an agreement for the home-care sector — that means getting paid. She mentioned election speeches from Kinew and Asagwara that spoke of health-care employees in Manitoba being overworked, underpaid, and disregarded.

“I agree,” said Desender. “Many co-workers and I in the home-care field can work casual shifts to care for our clients, but financially, it is not worth it.”

“When working in a hospital or care home, there are times when the patients are not needing care. The health-care aids still get their hourly wages and top-ups when working in a facility.”

Descender said benefits while working inside a health-care facility are acceptable — but home-care coverage is very low and does not include her prescriptions.

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“Would you work eight hours but only be paid for five and a half?” she wrote. “Please consider this when you are promoting home-care positions and negotiating the union contracts. That may be one of the reasons why home care positions and shifts are not being filled.”

Health-care support workers are being left behind, with low pay and minimal benefits, said MGEU President Kyle Ross, adding that without a fair contract that recruits and retains workers, Manitoba’s health-care system will continue to struggle with staffing shortages.

“Health-care jobs were once seen as the cornerstone of their communities, but it’s hard to recruit when these jobs don’t offer competitive wages,” he said. “We’re asking the employer for a contract that makes health support jobs competitive and helps grow the workforce.”

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MGEU health support workers rejected their employer’s offer last week and the union has requested the province return to the bargaining table.

“No official strike date has been set yet, but planning for job action has begun, and we are actively preparing for the possibility that such action becomes necessary,” said Ross.

Manitoba’s home-care program is short-staffed, said PC Health Critic Kathleen Cook. Despite campaigning almost entirely on health care, and after nearly a year in power, Manitobans still have not seen a firm plan from the NDP to recruit, retain, and train health-care workers, she said.

“Both MGEU and CUPE members are unhappy with the government’s current offers, with MGEU voting against the deal this government put forward,” she said. “I don’t know if the specific issue raised by this individual is currently under negotiation, but it would certainly make sense for the government to listen to and consider her concerns.”

Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca

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