NAPE gathers home-care workers to share concerns — and prepare for upcoming contract talks

A weekend conference organized by Newfoundland and Labrador's largest union brought about 100 home-care support workers together in St. John's to discuss shared experiences and concerns.

NAPE president Jerry Earle says the event was also an opportunity to prepare for upcoming collective bargaining.

"It is a very difficult process. It's a challenging process. I think I heard a federal minister say, 'It's ugly sometimes,'" said Earle.

"But at the end of the day, it's parties coming together realizing — and I hope the employers … and government realize — the value these workers bring."

NAPE represents more than 4,000 home support workers, employed by 19 different agencies. The collective agreement between the agencies and NAPE is set to expire March 31. Home-support workers employed by one of the agencies currently earn $16.95 per hour, with a 10-cent increase scheduled for April 1.

Earle said wages and benefits will be a major focus of the upcoming bargaining process.

"You're not going to keep these workers in the system or attract people to home care unless you value their work," he said. 

"They are critical to the health-care system. They allow seniors and people with disabilities to be able to age in place. They have been never properly recognized, they've been never professionalized and they certainly haven't been appropriately compensated."

Earle said long commutes for assignments of only one or two hours, and a lack of benefits — such as group insurance, pension or retirement plans — are among the problems many members face.

He also said many home support workers experience isolation, since they work by themselves in clients' homes and don't have opportunities to discuss concerns with fellow workers.

Providing a platform for them do that, said Earle, is "critical."

"It's great to be able to get together because every bargaining unit that we overview, employer that we represent, has members here, so they understand now, 'Wow, there's 20-odd other companies, we're very similar, our issues are the same,'" he said.

It's the first time home-care workers have gathered as a group since before the COVID-19 pandemic began, he said.

"This is the first time in Newfoundland and Labrador they have actually been able to get together from every community in Newfoundland and Labrador, talk about issues that are common to them and understand their issues are similar, whether in St. Anthony or St. John's or Port aux Basques."

While the Health Accord and a report published Thursday by the province's seniors' advocate acknowledge the value of home care for society, he said, tangible financial improvements are needed for the province to be able to recruit and retain workers.

"I can tell you, collectively, we're going to step up and make that an issue," said Earle.

"While I'm in this position, we're going to be supporting them 100 per cent. We're going to be going to the bargaining table and say, 'This is not right.'"

According to the Health Accord, there are about 8,500 home care workers in the province.

The provincial government announced just under $8 million in funding for home support agencies on Oct. 3, to try to implement better standards of care. That money does not go towards an increase in workers' wages.

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