2003-09-25 -- Privatization-s ugly results in Canada


Healthcare and  healthcare workers under attack in Canada
as privatization proceeds.   British Columbia is the scene of the
worst attacks on workers' services in Canada.


1,000 health-care workers quit unions, accept pay cuts
1,000 more are likely to follow in bid to save jobs

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Fear of losing their jobs has prompted at least 1,000 workers at
long-term care facilities across the province to either quit their
union to get new contracts with their employers, or agree to
union-organized wage concessions.

At least another 1,000 workers are expected to take the same drastic
measures in the next month in exchange for job security.

The Liberal government's Bill 29, in which health-care employers were
last year given the green light to shred collective agreements and
contract out union jobs to the private sector, is prompting the frenzy
of job-salvaging activity.

Wage cuts have amounted to as much as $2.50 per hour in at least one
case, $1.72 an hour in another, plus concessions on holidays and
benefits.

At Haven Hill Retirement Centre in Penticton, 50 workers belonging to
the Hospital Employees' Union exercised their right under the B.C.
Labour Code and voted 81 per cent in favour of quitting their union.

"A few of us were watching what was going on around the province with
contracting out and decided we better do something," said Darrell
Bennett, a support-services manager.

Out of the 50 workers, nine were against decertification and some quit
over the issue.

Bennett, a union member, said most workers felt they had no choice.

"There aren't a lot of jobs in Penticton and two or three other
facilities are going to close, shrinking the job market even more.

"It's true we don't have guarantees of job security, but we're still
working," he said, referring to the fact that thousands of HEU jobs in
housekeeping, laundry and food services have already been contracted
out across the province.

The HEU, with 45,000 members in acute and long-term care facilities,
estimates its membership will have shrunk by 10,000 by the time health
authorities and care facilities get finished with what Bill 29 has
permitted them to do.

Chris Allnutt, spokesman for the HEU, said the "de-unionization" of
the health-care sector was what was intended by Bill 29 and is being
achieved. Normally, there is one decertification a year.

In 18 months, there have been 10 times that number and more are
expected.

In the Lower Mainland acute care hospitals haven't waited for
employee-led job sustaining efforts.

Within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority a bid to cut operating
costs has meant that about 1,000 unionized hospital employees in
housekeeping, security and laundry have lost their jobs because of
contracts awarded to companies which pay vastly lower wages.

In Penticton, Bennett said after employees voted to decertify, they
had to work out a contract with the owner of the facility,
Vancouver-based Buron Health Care Ltd.

The new one-year contract cuts wages by about $2.50 an hour. For
example, care aides who were making about $21 an hour get a few
dollars less per hour, and all workers agreed to taking fewer holidays
and split the cost of their benefits package. Bennett acknowledged
that while they no longer have union dues to pay, they still made
financial and other sacrifices which may come back to haunt them.

"It was a gamble, no question, but the future is uncertain in health
care," Bennett said.

In addition to Haven Hill, nine other long-term care facilities
employing 582 former union workers have decertified: Sherwood Crescent
Guest House in Clearbrook, Valleyhaven in Chilliwack, Maplewood House
in Abbotsford, Braddan Private Hospital in Vancouver, Okanagan Chateau
in Kelowna, Northcrest Care Centre in Delta, Royal Arch Masonic Home
in Vancouver, Summerhill in North Vancouver and Laurel Lodge in
Courtenay.

At Royal Arch Masonic Home, 86 of 127 HEU members voted on
decertification. The vote passed 51 to 35, according to Greg Runzer,
administrator of the facility.

"Employees knew the writing was on the wall for their jobs to be
contracted out because of budgetary concerns. Yes, they will be making
about two or three dollars less per hour but that's a lot better than
if the jobs were contracted out," he said.

Marilyn Krouter, a receptionist at the facility who helped lead the
decertification move, said smaller cheques reflecting lower wage rates
will appear Oct. 15 and employees will then feel the bottom line
result of their decision.

"It was a gamble but it was better than getting a pink slip," she
said, noting that leaving the union might not have succeeded were it
not for the fact that workers like where they work.

"There were three or four employees who were angry and resentful but
the people who were against this are still talking to me. Not one
employee quit over this and as the phone receptionist, I can assure
you I get lots of calls every day from people asking if we have jobs
available," said Krouter, whose own wage will drop from $21.22 an hour
to $19.50.

Tony Collins, spokesman for the Health Employers' Association of B.C,
said the fact that so many workers are agreeing to wage rollbacks
could be unprecedented in health care in B.C.

"What we have traditionally seen is that wages only go in one
direction," he said, referring to the steady escalation of wage rates
negotiated in collective agreements in the past.

The rising cost of patient care and the fiscal challenges health
authorities face are fuelling the desire of employers to seek wage
savings and Collins estimates that most employers who are
renegotiating are realizing savings of about 8.95 per cent on an
annualized basis.

He said that is about the same as what would have been achieved had
HEU members not voted last spring to reject concessions that would
have rolled back wages, extended work hours and cut some benefits in a
bid to limit the number of jobs contracted out to about 5,000.

"Union members should have ratified that deal. It would have made life
a lot easier," Collins said, referring to the deal which was estimated
to be worth $500 million in concessions over three years.

It was the first time in 50 years HEU had proposed rollbacks. But when
that deal died -- with a 57-per-cent rejection rate among the fewer
than 50 per cent of the members who voted -- workers began searching
for other means to save their jobs.

At St. Joseph's General Hospital this week, workers voted 65 per cent
in favour of an agreement that protects 400 HEU jobs. The local
memorandum of agreement, as it is called, will remain in effect until
March 31 or until a new province wide collective agreement is
negotiated.

Under the deal, workers stay in the union but those in support
services (laundry, housekeeping, food services, maintenance) have
agreed to wage rollbacks of about $2 an hour while those in direct
patient care (licensed practical nurses and care aides) will see rates
reduced by 20 to 40 cents and hour.

Under labour law, the agreement had to be signed by the local
bargaining unit, the HEU, the hospital and the HEABC.

Allnutt said the concessions, which also include a slightly longer
work week and three fewer days vacation per year, will provide the
employer with about $1 million in savings.