Home Care Update & Meetings

Good morning,

NSGEU’s home care workers play a critical role in our health care system: helping to ensure Nova Scotians can stay in the comfort of their own homes even when they need assistance with their day-to-day routine. The work you do is deeply appreciated by your clients, their loved ones, and by us, your union.

Now, we are working to ensure this government shows their appreciation for the services you provide, as well.

There’s no doubt in my mind: Nova Scotia’s health care system is in crisis, and one major part of that system is home care. While our provincial government has said “home care is the future of health care,” there are serious problems in home care that must be addressed.

In an effort to elevate the value of home care and our members’ work and put pressure on government to make changes in the sector (increase funding, improve working conditions, and hire more home care workers), we launched an online campaign. This video featured three people whose lives are primarily impacted by home care: those receiving care, family members of those receiving care, and the workers who deliver it. The ad played on a variety of websites and social media channels for six weeks and received a great deal of positive feedback from the public.

After lobbying the Minister of Health and Wellness, NSGEU staff and members have been participating in a provincial government working group on home care. The purpose of the group – which consists of union stakeholders, Health Association Nova Scotia (HANS), and government representatives – is for government to obtain the unions’ perspective on the state of our home care system in Nova Scotia. As part of this process, we tabled a number of proposals that are focused on getting government to recognize home care as health care. We are now eagerly awaiting a response from the Minister.

The NSGEU represents home care workers from 11 different agencies, working from one end of this province to the other. We understand that your collective agreements are expired and we are working diligently to get bargaining underway at all of our Home Care tables.

Our EROs Corry Mac Kinnon and Donnie MacNeil will be holding special meetings for members in your area to update you on the working group on home care, and to discuss what’s happening in home care bargaining across the province:

• GUYSBOROUGH: Sunday, March 31^stfrom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Port Hastings Fire Hall auditorium (15 Old Victoria Road)
• SYDNEY: Monday, April 1^stfrom 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department (850 Grand Lake Road, Sydney)

Please make every effort to attend one of these sessions so you can ask questions about next steps.

In solidarity,

Jason MacLean, President, NSGEU