N.S. government, CUPE returning to bargaining table amid long-term care strike

The CUPE picket line outside the Saint Vincent's Nursing Home in Halifax is pictured. (Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)

After nearly a month-long strike for long-term care workers, the Nova Scotia government and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have agreed to return to the bargaining table.

In a news release, CUPE said they and the government agreed to get back to the table on Thursday. The strike has been ongoing since April 13.

“We’re happy to hear that the government is willing to get back to the table,” said Christa Sweeney, chair of the Long Term and Community Care Committee, in the release. “We look forward to negotiating in good faith and reaching a deal that everyone can be happy with.”

CUPE, which represents 52 long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia, has said its major focus is improved wages for workers.

“These folks need to be able to keep up, to put groceries on their table, to keep a roof over their heads and that’s not happening right now,” Mark Hancock, the national president of CUPE, previously told CTV News Atlantic.

“The money that we’ve been offered is next to nothing.”

Barbara Adams, minister of Seniors and Long-term Care, previously said their offer to the union is competitive.

“It’s 12-to-24 per cent pay raise plus a 70 per cent increase in shift premium, a defined pension benefit for those who didn’t have it and it’s a retroactive pay back to 2023 when the original deal expired,” Adams said.

Thirty-two long-term care facilities are currently on strike. They are:

• Lunenburg Home for Special Care in Lunenburg
• Grand View Manor in Berwick
• Magnolia Continuing Care Centre in Enfield
• Shiretown and Ivey’s Terrace Nursing Homes in Trenton
• Maple Hill Manor in New Waterford
• Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home in Halifax
• Harbourstone Enhanced Care in Sydney River
• Ocean View Continuing Care in Eastern Passage
• Admiral and White Hills Long Term Care Centres in Halifax
• Maplestone Enhanced Care in Halifax
• Alderwood Rest Home in Baddeck
• Richmond Villa in St. Peter’s
• Northside Community Guest Home in North Sydney
• Bayside Home in Barrington
• Seaview Manor in Glace Bay
• Maritime Odd Fellows in Pictou
• Valley View Villa in Stellarton
• Queen’s Manor in Liverpool
• Villa St. Joseph-du-Lac in Dayton
• Roseway Manor in Shelburne
• The Birches in Musquodoboit Harbour
• Port Hawkesbury Nursing Home in Port Hawkesbury
• Surf Lodge in Lockeport
• Ivy Meadows in Beaver Bank
• Glasgow Hall in Dartmouth
• Celtic Court in Membertou
• Bisset Court in Cole Harbour
• St. Anne Nursing Care Centre in Arichat
• Ryan Hall in Bridgewater
• The Meadows in Yarmouth
• Melville Lodge in Halifax
• Shoreham Village in Chester

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Natalie Lombard and Jonathan MacInnis

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