Families 'devastated' as strike talks collapse

A break in talks to resolve a long-running strike involving community support workers in southern Newfoundland has astounded families of developmentally delayed adults who depend on their care.

"Just devastated," said Amelia Cull, describing her reaction to news that negotiations had hit an impasse to resolve a strike with workers of the Burin-Marystown Community Training and Employment Board.

"I could've chewed them to pieces, I was that evil," said Cull.

Cull's daughter, Judy, 41, has worked for 20 years at the primary school in Marystown, but — because she is developmentally delayed — has needed a support worker by her side.

With that person on strike, Judy Cull is at home and confused.

"It really helps Judy because it gives her self-esteem," her mother told CBC News. "And right now, she's not doing nothing. And she's just wondering when she can go back to work."

A conciliator working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees and the Newfoundland and Labrador government could not mediate an agreement over wages. The provincial government only recently became involved in the dispute, having argued it is not the employer.

The support workers in the Burin area make a little more than minimum wage.

NAPE president Carol Furlong said the two sides are apart by a raise of only 40 cents per hour for each of four years of a proposed contract.

"We have asked the question repeatedly in bargaining — what is this about?" she said Wednesday.

"We know it's not about money. It can't be about money. We have never gotten a valid answer."

Heavy impact

Meanwhile, another parent of a developmentally delayed adult said the long-running dispute, which began last November, has taken a great toll.

Albert Dober, 79, said his 40-year-old son Kent has relied on one of the striking workers, and now feels lost.

"I'm getting up in years. And what happens after we're gone? The parents are gone?" Dober said.

"There's a future — that young man has a future. But it doesn't look too bright now."

The strike has affected more than the Dobers' home life. His son and the support worker were helping to run a local crafts store and a museum.

The craft store closed because of the strike, and the museum has drastically cut its hours.

Other clients in the program clean classrooms at the local College of the North Atlantic campus.