A nursing home union says it is worried about how vacancies are being filled at the Kiwanis Nursing Home in Sussex.
Members of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions held a news conference in Fredericton on Wednesday.
According to the union, the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes and the Department of Social Development are recruiting staff from Horizon Health to work at the nursing home.
“This staffing shuffle plan involves Horizon Health hiring new employees, only to have them work at the Kiwanis Nursing Home at a higher wage than our workers,” Sharon Teare, president of the union, told reporters.
Teare said this move creates confusion and worsens the inequalities within an already overburned system.
She added they are also concerned that this could start happening at other nursing homes in the province.
“Are we going to see Horizon staff parachuted at higher wages while our members continue to be undervalued? What happens when the government further depletes staff in the strained hospital system?” said Teare.
Teare said her union has been calling attention to the staffing shortages in nursing homes for several years.
She noted there are more than 1,100 seniors waiting for a spot in nursing homes, yet over 200 beds sit empty because there are not enough workers.
“This government has continually refused to address the root cause: low wages and poor working conditions for nursing home staff. Instead, they’re shifting Horizon workers into nursing homes at higher pay rates, leaving our workers behind,” said Teare.
The union is calling on the province to raise nursing home workers’ wages by $9 per hour over four years.
