NEWS RELEASE

‘Group of 17’ Home Care Workers Ratify Collective Agreements 

 For Immediate Release:

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

ST. JOHN’S, NL– Home care workers for the ‘Group of 17’ Home Care Agencies, who are members of The Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE), have voted in favour of ratifying their new collective agreements. The new collective agreements covers approximately 3000 home care workers across Newfoundland and Labrador.

The agreements are between home care workers, represented by NAPE, and the following 17 home care agencies, referred to as the ‘Group of 17’: A Better Living, Maximum Home Support, Total Care Nursing, Bettercare, Notre Dame Compassionate, Your Home Care Services, Comfort Home Care, Provincial (Central), Loving Hands, Compassion Home Care, Provincial (Eastern), Serenity Home Care, Exploits Home Care, Quality Home Care, Horwoods Home Care, Helping Hands and Rosemore Home Care.

The ratified agreements include monetary increases in wages as well as improvements in contract language. Since NAPE is still at the bargaining table with several home care agencies not included in the Group of 17, details of the agreement will not be released at this time so as to not affect the remaining sets of negotiations.

“We are very pleased that home care members in the Group of 17 voted in favour of these agreements,” said NAPE President Jerry Earle. “These agreements have improvements to wages and contract language, which are steps towards these workers getting the compensation they deserve for the valuable service they provide to our provinces most vulnerable. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the bargaining team who worked diligently over the past year to make this result a reality.”

NAPE is still in various stages of bargaining with the following home care agencies: Caregivers, Tender Loving care, South Coast Home Care, All Care Home Support, Best of Care, Angel’s Touch Home Care, Caring Hands Home Care, Placentia Home Care/Home Sweet Home, and In Home Health Care.

The Union is hopeful that ratified agreements with the Group of 17 will lead to a speedy resolution to these remaining sets of negotiations.

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For further information, please contact:

Keith Dunne, NAPE Campaigns and Communications Coordinator

(phone) 709.570.2501   (cell) 709.631.9737      (email) kdunne@nape.ca