Table Mountains

Federation of Labour Backs Home Care Workers
November 5, 2008

Home care workers now have the backing of the entire labour movement. Delegates to the Federation of Labour convention in Gander have overwhelmingly endorsed a call from NAPE president Carol Furlong to support NAPE in its campaign to increase wages and benefits for home care workers. Furlong says it's shameful that workers in that sector earn little more than the minimum wage. Without changes, Furlong fears that the home care industry will cease to exist. She says even now,agencies cannot find enough workers to meet the demand. Furlong feels Newfoundland and Labrador's new status as a 'have' province should be reflected in the wages the province pays home care workers.

Carol Furlong: “The current wage and benefit package provides no incentive to recruit workers into the home care industry. If some positive steps are not taken soon to pay workers a respectable wage, I fear the argument will be redundant as the home care industry will likely be non-existent. Supply and demand is a real issue. Even the agencies are saying they cannot find enough workers to meet the demand.”

“It is shameful that in a province experiencing unprecedented wealth, those who dedicate their working careers to caring for the people who built this province make little more than minimum wage.”

Maybe it's time to take a step further and have the Home Care workers and clients who support them go to the Confederation Building for a day of protest. Maybe Ross will look out the window and see a crisis.