DEJA BULL ROSS!

VOCM
Home Care Workers Concerns Being Addressed; Wiseman
June 28, 2009

The province's Health Minister, Ross Wiseman, says NAPE's concerns about progress in home care in the province are being addressed by the government. NAPE President Carol Furlong, at their Annual General Meeting this week, says they are waiting for government action on the report submitted last year. Wiseman says the province was moving on home care issues prior to that and have made significant investments in that sector. He says they increased capacity and investments in adjusting assessments for those using home care and also salary adjustments for workers, including one in July and another in 2010. Minister Wiseman says the notion that government's focus is only on the petroleum industry at the expense of other areas, such as home care, is not an accurate one. Wiseman says nothing could be further from the truth. In the last several budgets the government has made significant investments in home care and the care of seniors.

* I would like to know why the increase was not retroactive to April 1st.2009?

Wiseman is only applying Band- Aid solutions to Home Care.Wiseman,like previous Health Ministers just cannot grasp what Home Care does for this Province.

The Telegram: January 22-2009

Raise salaries for home care workers, NAPE demands


The province has to start showing more respect for home-care workers and take action to increase salaries, says Carol Furlong, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE).
Otherwise, she said, the home care industry could collapse because of a shortage of workers.
“The minister announced late last year that a government report on home care would be released in the fall and months later it still isn’t ready. This is unacceptable,” Furlong said.
The report was to have dealt with, among other things, salaries and benefits for home care workers, Furlong explained.
In the absence of the report, Furlong added, the government should maintain the differential in the minimum wage back to Jan. 1, when the minimum wage was increased.
“That increase was promised but has yet to be aid out to home-care workers,” she said.

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.

Back in 2003 weeks before the Provincial Election a group of Home Support workers in our area met with NAPE representative, Fred Oates. With the election just weeks away we tried to get our voice out to those who might help. Each party released a statement saying if elected,they would listen to us. Negotiate fairly with us. Years later we see no changes. Out of the group that met with Mr. Oates i doubt if one quarter are still working in Home Support. Some left for Alberta while others travel to Nova Scotia to do the same work for better wages.We have two candidates running here in Burgeo & Lapoile and i have only seen one addressing the matter for Home Support Workers in the district.The liberal incumbent Kelvin Parsons has bought the matter up while the other candidate for the PC party has not taken the time to look at this issue concerning many of the people he wants to represent in our area. Hopefully when the Big Blue Bus arrives on our end of the island the PC candidate might actually know that Home Support Workers exist and be part of the solution by forwarding on our message to Premier Williams.

Attention Mr. Williams !

Manufacturers, NAPE Question Leaders
September 26, 2007

NAPE is using the election to get commitments from the political parties as it relates to home care workers. The union says workers in that industry are paid abysmally low wages, which in turn has created hiring problems for companies. NAPE says the problems will continue as long as government policy relegates pay for home care workers to little more than minimum wage. Union president Carol Furlong says they can find greater benefits working in the fast food industry than caring for the sick and elderly.

Furlong is calling on all three parties to outline their plans to deal with the wage issue.

Probably one of the biggest crisis in the province and no one in Government will acknowledge it. If something drastic happened in the Home Care system tomorrow and someone suffered terribly we would see many champions of the cause. Until that time it'll be just thrown on the back burners and forgotten. Mr Wiliams you can be a champion of the cause in the present and not the future when it might be to late for some. Please help the Home Support Workers in NL have a better life. Those we help, know we care. Let us all know you care also!

Equity,Equity,Equity, but no Equality for others.

A few weeks ago the letters M -O- U became a part of the new vocabulary around the water coolers and coffee shops. Lately it's Equity. Websters defines it as " justice according to natural law or right; specifically : freedom from bias or favoritism b : something that is equitable."
Equality on the other hand is defined as the quality or state of being equal.

The home care workers in NL have known for quite sometime that equality is not synonymous with equity. Home Support Workers are lower down on the health care hierarchy.They are also the most vulnerable. The majority in NL are women, and a higher than average proportion are older than 40 years of age. The majority of Home Support workers in this province are under paid, have no health benefits, no sick days and no union to represent them in getting a better life. On the other hand Home Support Workers work with the mentally challenged and elderly in our province in most cases in the comfort of their own homes bringing to them a higher quality of life. Their work provides quite a savings for the health care system of this province but yet it goes unnoticed by the present administration and the previous ones. With all our so called new Equity in this province it might be high time to give a bit of equality to those of us who work in the home care sector. Mr. Williams please allow NAPE to represent us and bargain with us fairly. Unlike big oil you'll find that Home Care Workers just want what we deserve.