Union says no to 12-hour shifts at Casselholme

Representatives of CUPE are fighting demands by Casselholme management to work 12-hour shifts and are now preparing for arbitration.

Full details contained in the news release below.

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The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 188 long-term care workers at Casselholme East Nipissing Home for the Aged, will appeal to an arbitrator to achieve a fair contract after talks with management failed to reach a collective agreement.

“Casselholme management negotiators were fixated on forcing 12-hour shifts on RPNs,” said Henri Giroux, president of CUPE Local 146. “Not only would these shifts be hard on our members, the employer refused to rule out layoffs as a result of the change. There’s no way we would could agree to such a hardship.”

The union met with the employer in August and November, in the presence of a provincial labour conciliation officer, but those talks failed to reach a settlement. CUPE applied for arbitration on November 23rd, and is now waiting for hearing dates in 2007.

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