It’s bad enough when Tim Hortons sends 350 middle managers to the unemployment line or when IBM “accelerates retirements” to steady staggering stock.
However, that kind of hacking and slashing is exponentially more unpalatable when the laid-off workers are caregivers.
About 230 employees of Inglewood Care Home in West Vancouver are getting set to reapply for their jobs this spring.
While the care home is owned by UniCare, the centre’s staffing has been handled by a slew of generically-named subcontractors over the past decade, each one of which seems to disappear at opportune moments. Most recently, the newly unionized workers were looking to sign their first deal.
We understand that times are tight, but Inglewood gets more than $11 million each year from Vancouver Coastal Health.
It seems like there should be enough money to pay the care aides more than $15.83, which is what they get to start. In 1994, they made $15.82.
Other professions may take more skill, or even more effort, but there aren’t many jobs as noble as taking care of people.
The centre’s workers keep physically vulnerable seniors clean and dressed, offering a measure of solace and support in their twilight years.
If UniCare is as committed to excellence in seniors living as they claim, they have to pay their workers a decent wage — enough to live on. There are many byproducts whenever staff are cut or wages are rolled back — excellence is rarely one of them.
