Unionized employees at Extendicare Michener Hill voted overwhelmingly on Friday in favour of a strike, but the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and the employer have agreed to return to the negotiation table with a provincial mediator on Wednesday.
Negotiations between Extendicare (Canada) Inc. and the AUPE have been ongoing since November 2010 to reach its first collective agreement for the Red Deer continuing care facility.
Extendicare has 300 full-time to casual general support services workers at the 280-bed facility that opened in September 2010.
Kevin Davediuk, AUPE staff negotiator, said the results of the strike vote could not be released until the Alberta Labour Board makes them official.
But the results exceeded the AUPE’s expectations, he said.
“The unofficial results were an overwhelming majority. We have a very clear mandate,” Davediuk said on Monday.
In April, mediation at the union’s request failed because the sides were too far apart.
Davediuk said if a tentative agreement or mediator’s recommendations are not generated on Wednesday, the employer has been told that the AUPE could issue its 72-hour notice to strike as early as May 20.
The AUPE would provide temporary safety services for emergencies during a strike, which means the union would send in one or two staff to help residents at the facility if requested.
At Extendicare, long-term care residents live in groups of 12 to 14 with general support services staff providing housekeeping, food service and personal care, unlike traditional nursing homes, which have personal care workers in addition to staff who do housekeeping and food service.
Soon after Extendicare opened, the facility had to temporarily stop taking in residents due to a staff shortage. Family members of residents complained about the lack of care for residents.
Extendicare, a privately-owned and publicly-funded facility, opened when Alberta Health Services shut down two publicly operated nursing homes in Red Deer.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com