More than 100 health-care workers at a Kelowna seniors home have been handed layoff notices, according to the union that represents them.
Advocare Health Services, a Kelowna-based company that contracts care workers out to several seniors homes in B.C.’s interior, has told workers at the Spring Valley seniors home in Kelowna they will lose their jobs July 11.
The workers are members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU), which said the layoffs create “instability” for residents and their families.
Darryl Walker, president of the BCGEU, suggested the change at Spring Valley is linked to Bill 29, which was passed in 2002 and allowed care facilities to contract out care and support services at reduced wages.
He added that Ottawa’s announced changes to foreign worker rules would allow companies to pay lower salaries to temporary workers, and threaten current jobs at care facilities in Canada.
“This provincial government created this contracting, subcontracting and contract flipping that has driven down wages and created instability in seniors’ care,” said Walker.
“Now the federal government has made it easy for contractors to replace Canadian workers with cheaper foreign workers. This is bad for seniors and their families.”
The announcement is the latest in a series of challenges that face the seniors care sector in B.C.
Last month, BCGEU workers at the Dorchester Retirement Residence voted in favour of strike action after yearlong negotiations with Dorchester’s managing company, Revera, broke down.
The joint Business in Vancouver-CBC Grey Area investigative series launched this week has revealed that many seniors care companies have rushed to develop facilities in recent years to fill the demand for specialized housing as the population ages.
The problem is that too many facilities have been built, experts say, creating a glut of supply that has left many pricey independent living facilities throughout the province in dire financial conditions.
In fact, some facilities have entered receivership, been put up for sale or sold at reduced rates due to perennially low occupancy levels.
Check out “Grey Area: B.C. seniors lost in care homes chasm” in this week’s BIV.
More stories, interactive maps, video and audio can be found at the CBC’s Grey Area mini-site.
