KENNEY THE GHOST OF KLEIN

Alberta hospital laundry job cuts to begin in September as work outsourced
Janet French

© Vincent Bonnay/Radio-Canada About 10,000 people in Alberta are on a waiting list for knee surgery.

Alberta Health Services says 334 workers will lose their jobs by next April as it outsources the last of its in-house laundry work.

K-BRO WAS CREATED WHEN KLEIN CONTRACTED OUT LAUNDERY SERVICES IT IS NOW A NORTH AMERICAN MONOPOLY IN LAUNDRY CARE CONTRACTING OUT

A transition will begin in September, starting in rural areas around Calgary, when company K-Bro Linen Systems will take over the work. By April 2022, all linens from AHS hospitals and care centres will be washed, sorted and shunted around by K-Bro.

The company already handles about two-thirds of AHS's linens, including in Edmonton and Calgary facilities.

"AHS is confident that K-Bro will continue to provide this high-quality service throughout the province on a continuous basis at their state-of-the-art facilities," AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an email.

Although he said costs will be lower with the service outsourced, he was unable to provide a dollar figure Monday.

The employees, AHS, and their union will "explore potential options" to see if laid-off laundry workers can get new jobs with K-Bro, Williamson said.

It will be mostly people in small cities and rural communities affected by the move, said Sandra Azocar, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

Many of the employees are in Medicine Hat, she said, but there may not be new jobs there. She says it's likely the linens will be trucked to Calgary. No one from K-Bro could be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Trucking laundry around Alberta instead of washing it locally could also lead to shortages when the roads are in poor condition, said Alberta Union of Provincial Employees vice-president Kevin Barry.

Outsourcing all linen handling was one of several recommendations in the 2019 EY report, which was commissioned by the government to find possible cost savings and operational improvements for AHS.

The EY report said outsourcing seven services, including laundry, food and others, would save between $100 and $146 million a year. It would also prevent AHS from spending $200 million to upgrade aging in-house laundries.

Last October, the province announced up to 11,000 public health-care jobs would be outsourced.

It prompted hundreds of workers to stage an illegal walkout later that month.

Government seeks private clinics for hip and knee surgeries

Last week, the government also said it's accepting proposals for future private clinics to perform hip and knee surgeries in Edmonton and Calgary.

The province hasn't said how many of the surgeries it would like to outsource, or when they would begin the procedures.

The move is part of a UCP pledge to tackle growing surgical waitlists, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government data shows some Albertans are waiting longer than a year for a hip or knee replacement once they're ready for surgery.

In a news release, the government said 45 per cent of people in line for knee surgeries are waiting longer than the recommended maximum of six months, as were 40 per cent of people awaiting a new hip.

Its plan is to spend $140 million on private, low-risk orthopedic surgeries during the next seven years, but the cost of individual contracts will depend on the bids.

A similar initiative in Saskatchewan saw wait times drop only temporarily while that province was putting more funding into public and private surgeries.

Critics say these kinds of arrangements don't resolve systemic problems that cause waitlists and introduce risks for taxpayers.

Azocar says the health system is already struggling to retain workers burned out from the pandemic and facing government wage cuts.

If private clinics now compete for those workers, it will drive up pay and costs in both sectors, she said.

"It just doesn't make sense for this government to be so bent on privatizing public health care when they can't even address some of the issues that are taking place within our public system," she said.

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-ghost-of-klein-haunts-alberta-about.html

FOR BACKGROUND ON K-BRO, AND THE WILCAT STRIKE AGAINST KLEIN IN 1995 SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for LAUNDRY WORKERS 

SEIU

Nursing home workers on strike in fight for better wages, hazard pay, PPE; plan to continue picket line as long as it takes – WLS-TV
Uncategorized / By fiascojob

CHICAGO (WLS) — Some of the local nursing home workers went on strike early Monday morning.

City View Multicare Center in Cicero has had more than 200 COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Workers have said that they do not feel safe.

“I’m hoping we come to an agreement so we can go back to work and take care of our residents because they’re used to who they’re used to,” said Sade Drake, City View Multicare Center worker.

“We feel like we’re heroes and we want to be treated like heroes. We’re living below the poverty level,” said Shantonia Jackson, certified nursing assistant.

Nearly 700 essential nursing home workers walked off the job at 11 Infinity Health-owned facilities in the Greater Chicago area. They have been without a contract since June.

Nursing assistants, dietary aides and housekeepers in part, have demanded at least a $15 an hour wage, hazard pay for all employees and a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment.

“Hazard pay is not a lot to ask. These people are putting their lives on the line. So I don’t think you can separate the demands. I think that they are all equally justifiable in the situation we’re currently experiencing,” said Erica Bland-Durosinmi, Executive Vice President Executive Healthcare Illinois.

Jackson helps patients there with daily care like bathing and eating, and fears she’ll be the next to contract the virus.

“We get masks that as soon as you put the string on your face, it pops. We don’t get N-95 masks, and that’s what we really need,” she said.

The union said many of their patients support them.

“Family members have been on press conferences with us. They fully support this fight because they wanna make sure their loved ones are receiving the care they deserve,” said Bland-Durosinmi.

Infinity Health has not responded to request for comment.

Workers said they are prepared to strike as long as it takes for better pay and greater protections from COVID-19. They will be back at the picket line Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.


Copyright © 2020 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

Sorgente articolo:
Nursing home workers on strike in fight for better wages, hazard pay, PPE; plan to continue picket line as long as it takes – WLS-TV

Workers go on strike at 11 nursing homes in Illinois, demanding higher wages and COVID-19 pandemic hazard pay

Nov 23, 2020

Nearly 700 nursing home workers went on strike Monday at 11 facilities in Illinois, seeking higher pay and greater protections from the COVID pandemic.

Certified nursing assistants, aides, housekeepers and other workers went on strike at 6 a.m. after failing to reach a contract agreement with the owner of Infinity Healthcare Management of Illinois.

The members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana said they were seeking pay of $15.50 an hour for CNAs, and about $15 an hour for housekeepers and other workers, and hazard pay as essential workers during the pandemic. They say it’s similar to terms other workers in the state got after a nursing home strike earlier this year by about 10,000 workers at 100 nursing homes.

Infinity received nearly $13 million in federal aid through the CARES Act this year, and is seeking more, according to the union, part of the Service Employees International Union.

Infinity did not answer repeated phone calls or respond to repeated requests for comment. Nursing home industry officials have said repeatedly that they are hampered by low Medicaid payments, and need public financial aid, protective equipment and testing to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Illinois lawmakers last year increased Medicaid funding for nursing homes by up to $240 million, and $70 million of that was meant to address staffing needs.

Most of the 11 homes that would be affected by a strike are in the Chicago area. They include City View Multicare Center in Cicero, which had 249 coronavirus cases, and Niles Nursing & Rehabilitation in Niles, which had 54 COVID-related deaths, both among the most at any long-term care facility in the state.

The other homes are Ambassador Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Continental Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Lakeview Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Southpoint Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, all in Chicago, and Oak Lawn Respiratory & Rehabilitation Center, Forest View Rehabilitation in Itasca, Parker Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Streator, West Suburban Nursing & Rehabilitation in Bloomingdale and Momence Meadows Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

Most of the workers are Black or Hispanic women. Typically, managers and contract workers attempt to replace the striking nursing home workers. Even with all their employees, nursing homes have chronically been accused of not having enough staff members, and administrators have said it’s especially hard to find enough workers during the pandemic, when some are sick or afraid to work.

Nearly 700 nursing home workers walk off job, begin strike in fight for better wages, hazard pay, PPE

Nursing assistants, dietary aides and housekeepers are among those demanding better pay and protection.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Some of the local nursing home workers went on strike early Monday morning.

City View Multicare Center in Cicero has had more than 200 COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Workers have said that they do not feel safe.

"I'm hoping we come to an agreement so we can go back to work and take care of our residents because they're used to who they're used to," said Sade Drake, City View Multicare Center worker.

"We feel like we're heroes and we want to be treated like heroes. We're living below the poverty level," said Shantonia Jackson, certified nursing assistant.

Nearly 700 essential nursing home workers walked off the job at 11 Infinity Health-owned facilities in the Greater Chicago area. They have been without a contract since June.

Nursing assistants, dietary aides and housekeepers in part, have demanded at least a $15 an hour wage, hazard pay for all employees and a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment.

"Hazard pay is not a lot to ask. These people are putting their lives on the line. So I don't think you can separate the demands. I think that they are all equally justifiable in the situation we're currently experiencing," said Erica Bland-Durosinmi, Executive Vice President Executive Healthcare Illinois.

Jackson helps patients there with daily care like bathing and eating, and fears she'll be the next to contract the virus.

"We get masks that as soon as you put the string on your face, it pops. We don't get N-95 masks, and that's what we really need," she said.

The union said many of their patients support them.

"Family members have been on press conferences with us. They fully support this fight because they wanna make sure their loved ones are receiving the care they deserve," said Bland-Durosinmi.

Infinity Health has not responded to request for comment.

Workers said they are prepared to strike as long as it takes for better pay and greater protections from COVID-19. They will be back at the picket line Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.

Workers go on strike at 11 nursing homes in Illinois, demanding higher wages and COVID-19 pandemic hazard pay

By ROBERT MCCOPPIN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE 
NOV 23, 2020 


1 / 10
Dwayne Knox left, pickets with SEIU Healthcare Illinois workers at Oak Lawn Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Lawn on Nov. 23, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)


Nearly 700 nursing home workers went on strike Monday at 11 facilities in Illinois, seeking higher pay and greater protections from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs), aides, housekeepers and other workers went on strike at 6 a.m. after failing to reach a contract agreement with the owner of Infinity Healthcare Management of Illinois.

The members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana said they were seeking pay of $15.50 an hour for CNAs, and about $15 an hour for housekeepers and other workers, and hazard pay as essential workers during the pandemic. They say it’s similar to terms other workers in the state got after a nursing home strike earlier this year by about 10,000 workers at 100 nursing homes.

Infinity received nearly $13 million in federal coronavirus relief aid this year and is seeking more, according to the union, part of the Service Employees International Union.

Infinity did not answer repeated phone calls or respond to repeated requests for comment. Nursing home industry officials have said repeatedly that they are hampered by low Medicaid payments, and need public financial aid, protective equipment and testing to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Illinois lawmakers last year increased Medicaid funding for nursing homes by up to $240 million, and $70 million of that was meant to address staffing needs.

Most of the 11 homes that would be affected by a strike are in the Chicago area. They include City View Multicare Center in Cicero, which had 249 coronavirus cases, and Niles Nursing & Rehabilitation in Niles, which had 54 COVID-19-related deaths, both among the most at any long-term care facility in the state.

The other homes are Ambassador Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Continental Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Lakeview Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Southpoint Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, all in Chicago, and Oak Lawn Respiratory & Rehabilitation Center, Forest View Rehabilitation in Itasca, Parker Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Streator, West Suburban Nursing & Rehabilitation in Bloomingdale and Momence Meadows Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.


Most of the workers are Black or Hispanic women. Typically, managers and contract workers attempt to replace the striking nursing home workers. Even with all their employees, nursing homes have chronically been accused of not having enough staff members, and administrators have said it’s especially hard to find enough workers during the pandemic, when some are sick or afraid to work.


About two-thirds of Infinity workers said they had to work a second job to make ends meet, which increases the risk of exposure to COVID-19, while some workers left for higher pay elsewhere, leaving the homes short-staffed, union officials said. They said testing for COVID-19 at Infinity is inconsistent with slow results.

“We are striking for our lives, to protect ourselves and our families and to stand up for our residents,” CNA Shantonia Jackson said at news conference on the picket line in Cicero.

A strike was averted in May when the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities granted pay raises and $2 an hour hazard pay to about 10,000 SEIU workers at more than 100 homes.

AARP was not involved in these disputes, but AARP Illinois State Director Bob Gallo said his organization was saddened that vulnerable nursing home residents are caught up in a dispute that threatens their safety during the pandemic.

“As an organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of older adults and their families,” Gallo said, “AARP hopes a quick resolution can be found that prioritizes the quality of life, health and safety of nursing home residents and the nursing home staff at a time when they need us the most.”

Chicago nursing home workers launch strike against poverty wages, lack of protection from COVID-19

Alexander Fangmann WSWS
24 November 2020


Nearly 700 nursing home workers went on strike Monday morning at 11 of 13 facilities operated by Illinois-based Infinity Healthcare Management, predominantly located in the Chicago metropolitan region. The workers, who include certified nursing assistants (CNAs) as well as those doing crucial laundry and housekeeping, are demanding an increase to their wages, as well as hazard pay in recognition of the dangerous conditions prevailing in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities (LTCFs) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers are also demanding adequate personal protective equipment and improved staffing, with many overstretched workloads substantially worsened as nursing home staff themselves fall ill or have to quarantine.

Infinity Health Care workers at Niles Nursing & Rehabilitation (Credit: WSWS)

Workers who spoke to the World Socialist Web Site said they are currently paid around $13 per hour and are demanding raises of about $2 per hour. This would bring CNAs up to a starting pay of $15.50 across the state, still a poverty wage and barely above Chicago’s minimum, which is set to rise to $15 in 2021. Pay for non-CNA workers would rise to $14.50 outside of Chicago and $15 at facilities located in Chicago.

According to the SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana union, Infinity management has refused to bring worker pay in line with the paltry increases the union negotiated earlier at 100 facilities with about 10,000 workers. In a conference call with workers Sunday, Shaba Andrich, the union’s vice president for nursing homes, said that Infinity is offering only a $15.15 starting wage for new CNAs, a $0.25 per hour raise for those making above that, and a yearly raise of only $0.10 per hour.

Striking workers should take warning: While posturing as fighting for low-wage workers, the SEIU has over many years perfected the art of negotiating sellout contracts for its highly exploited members, tamping down worker militancy and enforcing management’s demands. In order to conduct a real fight to secure both their needs and those they care for, striking workers should take the struggle out of the hands of SEIU and move to elect rank-and-file strike committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves.

Conditions in long-term care facilities, which were often grim even before the pandemic, have become truly horrific. Half of those who have died from COVID-19 in Illinois, 5,782, were residents at LCTFs. According to figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) website, there have been at least 181 COVID-19-related deaths at Infinity’s 13 facilities, and at least 1,401 positive cases. Nine of the facilities are listed as having currently open outbreaks.

One facility in particular, Niles Nursing and Rehabilitation, accounted for 54 deaths, more than any other LTCF in Illinois, and workers said at least 30 staff members contracted COVID-19. Another, the City View Multicare Center in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, registered 249 cases and 15 deaths. One of two Infinity facilities not on strike, Belhaven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, has an open outbreak with 101 cases and nine deaths so far.

Despite the well-known and life-threatening danger to both staff and residents, workers at Infinity are not provided with adequate PPE, with one worker, Jackie Abdulebdeh, telling the Chicago Sun-Times she is only given one mask per workday.

Workers are angry that Infinity received $12.7 million in federal aid through the CARES Act and is looking for more, even as it forces workers to live in poverty and does the bare minimum to protect them from COVID-19.

Clear data on deaths among nursing home workers has been difficult to determine, similar to the situation in virtually every other work sector, with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) under Trump refusing to maintain any central figures or do anything to protect workers. According to a CNN report from July 23, one government estimate put the figure at “more than 600 workers at around 400 facilities.” In all likelihood this is a vast undercount of the deadly toll the virus is taking on workers.

Even with the dire conditions at these facilities and the evident militancy of many workers in fighting not only for themselves but for better conditions for their residents, SEIU’s conference call with its members Sunday indicated many were skeptical about whether undertaking a strike led by the union is worth the lost pay, and whether they will be protected by SEIU if they are singled out by the company. Workers will receive just $50 per day in strike pay, even less per hour than they currently make, and only if they show up for four hours of picketing.

SEIU’s Andrich repeated the union’s mantra, “It would have been better to get a contract without a strike,” evidently wishing that Infinity had just gone along with the deal SEIU worked out in May with the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities (IAHCF). In that struggle, despite having secured a strike vote by a wide margin, SEIU rammed through a contract that left workers without adequate PPE and with base wages that would not allow them to afford a one-bedroom apartment. The agreement provided for only $2 per hour in COVID-19 hazard pay and just five extra sick days for workers who contract the disease.

As anger has mounted among health care and other low-wage workers in the face of intolerable and life-threatening working conditions, SEIU has worked to sabotage one struggle after another in recent months. In June, SEIU Local 1000 agreed to an over 11 percent pay cut for 96,000 state government workers in California, including nurses. In the Twin Cities, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota canceled a two-day strike in September at Allina Health after being threatened with legal action, and in October SEIU ended a five-day strike at Alameda Health System without a contract.

Closely tied to the Democratic Party, the SEIU has promoted the lie that Democrats are fighting on workers’ behalf, with Andrich even claiming that Illinois’ billionaire Governor J.B. Pritzker and other politicians are “with us.” The reality is that Pritzker has enforced the demands of the corporations to continue production at non-essential manufacturing facilities during the pandemic just as much as his Republican counterparts in other states, with the result that industrial work sites have been the source of roughly 30 percent of Illinois’ COVID-19 outbreaks.

Moreover, it should be recalled that Illinois’ last Democratic governor, Pat Quinn, pushed through $1.6 billion in cuts to Medicaid in 2012, further starving resources for health care for the state’s poorest.

In order to prevent this strike from being shut down and ending in a sellout contract, nursing home workers should follow the lead of autoworkers and teachers and form rank-and-file safety committees, independent of SEIU, in order to wage a fight for decent pay, safe and humane working conditions, and the resources necessary to provide dignified care to the elderly and those with long-term needs. Such a committee should raise the following demands:

Adequate PPE and staffing levels in all long-term care homes across the state of Illinois, overseen by rank-and-file safety committees working with trusted medical experts

A doubling of base wages and substantial hazard pay for all health care workers

Fully paid sick leave with no penalties or restrictions during the pandemic and free health care for all workers

A massive infusion of resources, not into the bank accounts of the nursing home companies and investors but toward meeting the needs of the workers and the elderly.

Infinity Healthcare, like much of the LTCF industry, reaps its profits at the expense of the lives and health of its workers and residents. The utter disaster playing out in these facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic only underscores the failure of the capitalist profit system. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) calls for the trillions of dollars handed over to the giant banks and corporations to be redistributed in order to fund free, universal health care, and for the health system to be placed under democratic, public control, run to meet social need, not private profit.

The SEP and WSWS will do everything possible to assist Infinity workers in the organization of rank-and-file committees and formation of connections with other sections of workers—in health care, auto manufacturing, public education, logistics and elsewhere—to launch a common struggle for workers’ rights. We urge nursing home workers to contact us today.

CANADA
For migrant farm workers, housing is not just a determinant of health, but a determinant of death


Anelyse Weiler, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Victoria 

and C. Susana Caxaj, Assistant Professor, Nursing, Western University
Tue, July 12, 2022 

Migrant farm workers were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 because of poor housing conditions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Imagine if, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — before vaccines were available — you had to share a cramped bunkhouse with a dozen co-workers. Imagine if your employer forbid you from having personal visitors, or if you had to ask your boss for permission to visit the doctor.

Agricultural workers hired through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program regularly confront these dynamics while they leave their families behind in countries like Mexico and Jamaica for months or even years at a time to work in Canada. Frequently, they live on their employer’s property. These housing conditions are inconsistent, often overcrowded and sometimes grossly substandard.

But this month, the federal government is holding a roundtable to improve migrant farm workers’ employer-provided housing. This is a crucial opportunity to tackle persistent problems.
COVID-19 revealed dangers of poor housing

When COVID-19 hit migrant farm workers disproportionately hard in 2020, many Canadians recognized the connection between farm workers’ poor housing and the avoidable health challenges they often face. Our own research shows housing conditions played a major role in the untimely death of several farm workers.


Policymakers are increasingly recognizing that housing is a significant determinant of health. But for migrant agricultural workers, housing is also a significant determinant of death.

Before the pandemic, agricultural industry groups pushed back against creating national housing standards for workers. The federal government commissioned a study in 2018 by the National Home Inspector Certification Council, a non-profit organization that certifies housing inspection credentials. The study concluded that the quality of housing for migrant farm workers lacked uniformity, and the investigators recommended standardized criteria.

Yet four years later, the government has made sluggish progress towards enforceable national housing standards.

Key housing issues

Our research in British Columbia and Ontario, including interviews with over 50 migrant agricultural workers, identified several key housing issues:

Water, food and sanitation: Lack of access to clean drinking water and insufficient toilets, showers and handwashing stations are common concerns raised by migrant workers. Inadequate refrigeration, food storage and stoves were also often reported. This has serious consequences for the type of food workers can cook and store, and their nutrition. Because of limited laundry, cooking and washroom facilities, some workers spend their days off waiting in line for a turn at these basic amenities.

Heating, cooling and electricity: Some workers told us that on a cold winter’s night, they gather around a space heater or oven door to stay warm. In the summer heat, one worker told us that trying to sleep after a long shift is a “living hell” due to a lack of ventilation and air conditioning in the trailer he shares with another worker.

Exposure to pests, hazards and disrepair: The 2018 report commissioned by the federal government found that 40 per cent of workers’ housing was reported by employers as “dual purpose.” This means living quarters also functioned as workplace facilities (for example, granaries, garages, etc.). This finding suggests many workers may live in close proximity to agricultural chemicals and other hazards, which echoes findings from previous research. Lack of maintenance is also common.

Overcrowding and lack of privacy: One study reported the ratio of workers to functioning toilets on one farm was 45 to two. Echoing this research, overcrowding and cramped living quarters were among the most common complaints made by participants in our own study. During COVID-19, these cramped living quarters amplified uncertainty and anxiety for workers. A lack of personal space also undermines workers’ basic need for privacy and intimacy. One interviewee noted, “you can’t even wish your wife a good night,” without someone overhearing.

Isolation and employer control: Migrant agricultural workers tend to live in rural areas far away from basic services and community activities outside of work (such as religious services). Recent farm worker deaths from motor vehicles point to the lack of public and safe active transportation in workers’ neighbourhoods. Workers have told us they may be required to bike one- or two-hour round trips to access services or participate in social events.

Workers also face explicit restrictions on their freedom. Among the rules some workers are expected to conform to while living in Canada include curfews, prohibitions on visitors and being locked into their living quarters. Workers are often hesitant to report illegal behaviours by their employer for fear it may put their livelihoods in jeopardy.

Action to ensure safe housing

Migrant workers from Mexico maintain social distancing as they wait to be transported to Québec farms after arriving at Trudeau Airport in Montréal in April 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Migrant agricultural workers deserve to live with the same health, safety, and dignity owed to any Canadian worker. The federal government should take the following actions immediately:

Consistent national housing standards. The federal government should co-ordinate among all levels of government so that workers no longer fall through the jurisdictional cracks. Standards should be significantly raised for physical housing conditions (e.g., no bunk beds), health and safety, freedom from employer control and security of tenure.

Proactive, unannounced and thorough housing inspections to ensure standards on paper are enforced in practice. Workers need accessible channels to report problems while being protected from employer backlash, alongside the freedom to collectively organize. Penalties for non-compliance should be high enough to promote deterrence.

Government-funded housing (for example, in residential areas, with safe transportation to farms) would help promote inclusion and access to community services, while reducing inappropriate employer restrictions or control.

Permanent residency, open work permits and a fair grievance procedure before facing deportation would allow workers to refuse unsafe housing and poor work conditions, which often go hand-in-hand. A secure immigration status would also give workers the option of bringing their families with them.

The federal government’s upcoming roundtable is an urgent opportunity to raise the bar on dignified housing and living conditions for these members of our communities. Canada should stop expecting low-wage, racialized migrant workers to bear the brunt of preventable illness and death.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: C. Susana Caxaj, Western University and Anelyse Weiler, University of Victoria.

Read more:

Coronavirus: Canada stigmatizes, jeopardizes essential migrant workers

Migrant workers face further social isolation and mental health challenges during coronavirus pandemic

C. Susana Caxaj's research is currently funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Her work has previously been funded by the Vancouver Foundation and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She is a member of the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group.

Anelyse Weiler has received funding from SSHRC. Her work has previously been funded by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. She is affiliated with the BC Employment Standards Coalition, Worker Solidarity Network, and Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group.

Alberta health staff return to work, surgeries resume after one-day walkout

EDMONTON — Hospital and health-care workers who staged a one-day illegal walkout returned to work Tuesday while politicians swapped recriminations and accusations in the house over the dispute.

Alberta Health Services reported no service disruptions and a return to scheduled surgeries one day after hundreds of workers, including aides and support staff, walked off the job at about 30 sites throughout the province, including hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary.

Late Monday night, the Alberta Labour Relations Board ruled the job action illegal and the workers’ union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said it would urge staffers to return to work.

They had walked out to protest plans announced earlier this month by the United Conservative government to eliminate 11,000 jobs and privatize more lab and laundry services to save money. Health Minister Tyler Shandro had said nursing and other front-line clinical staff would not be affected.

The AUPE represents about 58,000 health care workers.

AHS estimated 157 non-emergency surgeries, most of them in Edmonton, had to be postponed as a result of the walkout. That is on top of the elective surgeries postponed in Edmonton last week due to strain on the system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the legislature, the Opposition NDP critic Janis Irwin accused Shandro of shabbily treating critical front-line workers.

“These folks put their lives on the line to serve Albertans, and they deserve our respect and dignity, not your government’s constant attacks,” Irwin told the house during question period.

“What message do you have for these dedicated workers?”

Shandro replied, “This is pure hypocrisy from the NDP.

“We are doing what exactly the NDP did. They had 68 per cent of laundry jobs throughout the province contracted out in Calgary and Edmonton. BULLSHIT THAT WAS DONE BY THE PREVIOUS UCP GOVERNMENT WHEN IT WAS THE PC PARTY UNDER KLEIN

“The NDP are not fighting for patients. They’re not fighting for the workers either. They’re fighting for the six-figure salaries of their union bosses.”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said her party did not initiate any privatization of those health services during its previous four years in government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2020.

Alberta health-care workers could face sanctions for wildcat strike
Janet French CBC

© Scott Neufeld/CBC Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said Alberta Health Services will investigate workers who participated in a wildcat strike on Monday.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is considering "disciplinary options" for unionized health-care workers who walked off the job earlier this week.

Nursing and support workers who participated in Monday's wildcat strike could be fined, suspended or even fired from their jobs, Finance Minister Travis Toews told reporters at the legislature on Tuesday. 

"They're looking at individual employee actions, individual employees who took part in the illegal walkout," Toews said

Next steps could include reporting any regulated workers to disciplinary bodies for professional sanctions, he said.

Working conditions and the Alberta government's move to outsource up to 11,000 jobs prompted the job action.

On Monday night, the Alberta Labour Relations Board declared the workers' walkout to be an illegal strike.

Although the board cited no wrongdoing by their union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), Toews said AHS will ask the board to investigate whether union leaders were involved in organizing the strike.

"Just from information in the public realm, it would appear that union leaders were instrumental, or certainly there was a high degree of possibility that union leaders were instrumental in the activities," Toews said.

Although he wouldn't point to specific evidence, Toews said social media posts, news reports and information received by his office suggest leaders were involved in organizing the walkout.

AUPE issued a short statement Tuesday, saying leaders can't comment on AHS's labour board complaint. Moves to investigate individual employees may prompt the union to file grievances against the employer, the statement said.

On Monday, AUPE President Guy Smith said the walkout was led by workers, not union officials.

"We know that your employer's going to react very strongly to what you're up to today," Smith said over a megaphone Monday to workers rallying outside Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital. "They're going to try and bully you and intimidate you to not be out here. If you stick together and stay strong, nothing can overcome the power of workers standing together — remember that."
Opposition calls move a 'witch hunt'

AHS said the organization is reviewing Monday's events and considering next steps including possible disciplinary options and consequences.

"That process could take some time to ensure we complete a thorough review and investigation," spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an email.

He did not say how many workers AHS was investigating or how long it would take.

© Scott Neufeld/CBC Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley said the government should be trying to reach a truce with health-care workers rather than investigating them for potential wrongdoing.

Opposition NDP leader Rachel Notley said the move is a continuation of the UCP government's attack on health-care workers.

"If the finance minister insists upon engaging in a witch hunt against regular, hard-working frontline workers in the middle of a pandemic it will show us that they have learned nothing from yesterday," Notley said on Tuesday. "What they must absolutely do is declare a truce."

The government has said outsourcing up to 11,000 health-care jobs such as cleaners, laundry and food service workers, porters and others could save up to $600 million a year. Two-thirds of health-care centre laundry across the province is already handled by private contractors.

The NDP disputes the estimated cost savings of outsourcing. Notley said the government expects low-wage health-care workers, many of whom are women of colour, to cheerfully report to high-risk jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic while waiting for pink slips.

"On what planet does this look even a little bit like basic common sense and humanity?" Notley said.

AHS workers' wildcat strike declared illegal by Alberta Labour Relations Board

Ashley Joannou , Anna Junker EDMONTON JOURNAL

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Waving to passing motorists, health-care workers walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

The Alberta Labour Relations Board has ruled that health-care workers who walked off the job Monday were engaged in an illegal strike.

In the decision released Monday night, the board said the workers must return to work at their scheduled shifts.

The orders from the board will be filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench, meaning anyone who breaks them could face civil or criminal penalties.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents the workers, said healthcare workers would return to work on Tuesday.

“AUPE members won support from across Alberta for their heroic stand, and proved once and for all that healthcare staff is more than doctors and nurses,” the union said in a statement late Monday.

In a statement issued following the decision, Finance Minister Travis Toews said he was pleased by the decision.

“Albertans should be able to rely on their health-care system with services delivered uninterrupted — no matter the circumstance,” he said.

“Going forward we expect that all unions respect the bargaining process and stop putting Albertans’ safety at risk. We will not tolerate illegal strike activity.”

General support health-care workers, licensed practical nurses and health-care aides across Alberta went on a wildcat strike Monday morning to call on the government to hire more staff and reverse the decision announced by Health Minister Tyler Shandro earlier this month to cut 11,000 jobs, including laundry services and lab work, mostly through outsourcing to third-party companies.

A wildcat strike is action taken by unionized workers without authorization from union leadership.

In a morning statement, Alberta Health Services (AHS) called the job action illegal. At a 4 p.m. emergency hearing, AHS formally asked the ALRB to direct employees back to work.

Arguments at the hearing centred around how big the walkout actually was and whether the AUPE was involved as an organization and could be held accountable.

AHS lawyers argued that the union was “reckless” for engaging in this type of behaviour during a pandemic and asked that the action be declared unlawful, the union and its members be ordered to cease and desist and the union make “every reasonable effort” to bring the strike to a close.

For AUPE’s part, the lawyer representing the union argued that while some members were not at work when they should have been, there was limited evidence that AUPE as an entity was involved and weak evidence around exactly how many employees were scheduled to work and were instead picketing.

In the final decision, the cease and desist order was made against the employees without mentioning the union.

Health-care workers have walked off the job this morning. A sizeable group is outside the Royal Alex and getting lots of honks of support from passing vehicles #yeg #ableg #abhealtb #abpoli pic.twitter.com/aADq08jdMi— Anna Junker 🔮 (@JunkerAnna) October 26, 2020
‘We’re not going to stand for being ripped apart and discarded, like Kleenex’

Speaking outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital on Monday morning, AUPE president Guy Smith said the strike was grassroots and spontaneous.

“The anger and the frustration that’s been building up for over a year was really set to light by that (job cuts announcement) two weeks ago,” said Smith.

The AUPE represents about 58,000 health-care workers, although it was not known exactly how many walked off the job or picketed.

Workers went on strike at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the University of Alberta Hospital, Glenrose Hospital and Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Foothills Hospital, South Health Campus and Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, Red Deer Regional Hospital, and in Athabasca, Westlock, Lethbridge, Whitecourt, Cold Lake, Peace River, Leduc, Westview and Fort Saskatchewan.

By Monday afternoon, the crowd outside the Royal Alexandra had swelled to a few hundred, including representatives of other health-care and non-health-care unions.

The Health Sciences Association of Alberta, which represents 27,000 health-care professionals, and the United Nurses of Alberta had said in separate statements that their members wouldn’t do the work of other union members. The Alberta Federation of Labour and its affiliated unions said they would join picket lines to show support.

Heather Smith, president of the UNA, said there has been “extreme unhappiness” within the health-care system for a long time.

“You can’t continue to beat people and expect that they’re just going to take it,” she said.

“It’s time this government recognize that we are a family of providers, and we don’t like being ripped apart, we’re not going to stand for being ripped apart and discarded, like Kleenex, we are not disposable as a workforce.”

Colleen Buzikevich, an environmental service worker who does housekeeping at the Royal Alexandra and was picketing outside the hospital Monday morning, said hearing about the job cuts was devastating.

“It was it was like a hot knife right through the heart,” Buzikevich said. “We’re fighting for our livelihood. We have families to support, we have spouses, people have kids. It’s that’s how you pay for food on your table and that’s being taken away from us. It feels like the rug is being pulled out from under us.”

By 8:30 p.m., just before the decision was released, picketers had left the Royal Alexandra and U of A hospitals.

© Ed Kaiser An ambulance on a call passes health-care workers who have walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. Ed Kaiser/Postmedia

Non-emergency surgeries postponed across the province

Earlier in the day, AHS said it was taking steps to address interruptions to patient care, including redeploying non-union staff wherever possible.

As a result of the job action, AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said non-emergency surgeries had been postponed across the province. The procedures were halted in the Edmonton Zone last week due to capacity issues because of COVID-19

.

© Ed Kaiser Health-care workers walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley called the strike action “deeply concerning” and said the province’s plan to privatize jobs will result in poorer health care.

“The UCP must stop this deliberate attack on public health care and get back to the table with frontline health-care heroes,” Notley said in a statement.

Smith said he’s had working relationships with previous premiers, but with Premier Jason Kenney there is “no relationship.”

“The fact that we haven’t been able to have that, build that relationship with this government, means that it could be harder to get to those discussion points,” Smith said. “We know we’re going to be at loggerheads, but we’re at a crisis point right now and we’re willing to help resolve that if the government is.”

With files from Lisa Johnson and The Canadian Press

© Anna Junker AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020

.

© Anna Junker AUPE president Guy Smith addresses media after AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

© Anna Junker AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

Union worried AHS reviving plan to privatize laundry services

FLASHBACK RALPH KLEIN DID THIS IN THE NINETIES, AND SOLD OUR TAXPAYER FUNDED 

LAUNDRY SERVICES TO TORY BACKERS WHO OWNED K BRO LAUNDRY SERVICES, 

KLEIN SOLD THEM THE HOSPITALS LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS SERVICES.

K BRO IS NOW NORTH AMERICAN WIDE, AS A PRIVATE LAUNDRY PROVIDER

PART OF THE ORACLE OF OMAHA'S BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY GROUP.

AND OF COURSE K BRO HAS NEVER DECREASED THEIR PRICES TO SERVICE

OUR HOSPITALS.

AND LAST TIME THE WORKERS FOUGHT BACK AND WE ALMOST HAD A GENERAL

STRIKE IN SUPPORT, UNTIL THE UNIONS SOLD THE WORKERS OUT FOR A DEAL

WITH KING RALPH.
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/01/laundry-workers-fight-privatization.html

EFF LABINE Updated: February 10, 2020


Alberta Health Services. IAN KUCERAK / POSTMEDIA

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is looking to save money by possibly outsourcing laundry services in communities outside of Edmonton and Calgary, but doing so could see hundreds of jobs cut.

In a letter sent out to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) on Monday, AHS gave the heads up about possibly contracting out laundry services. The notice states that the cost to offer that service could be up to $40 million. The potential impacts on staffing, if the plan moves forward, would be about 275 positions spread across 54 health-care sites.

On the list includes Whitecourt, Peace River, Athabasca, Barrhead, Cold Lake, Drayton Valley, Red Deer, Stettler, Canmore, Okotoks, Medicine Hat and Wainwright. Laundry service would stay the same in Edmonton and Calgary.

AUPE responded to the idea with a news release decrying the potential move as AHS pushing for privatization of hospital laundry.

Mauro Chies, vice president of Cancer Control Alberta and Clinical Support Services with AHS, said in an email outsourcing is being considered following the Health Ministry’s review of the provincial health authority.

“Outsourcing of all linen services would be an evolution of the existing linen services business model, as we currently outsource just more than 68 per cent of our linen services,” Chies said. “We understand and appreciate that for some this feels like uncertainty. We have assured our staff, their unions and our community partners that we will be prudent in our decision-making, keeping Albertans at the core of all our considerations. This is about Albertans, and the health system that cares for Albertans, every day.”

The AHS review, released on Feb. 3, looked at ways the health authority could save money. According to the review, laundry and linen services has a budget of roughly $60 million. Edmonton and Calgary are covered by six AHS-operated regional processing plants and 44 on-site facilities. The review notes equipment and plants at several AHS-run facilities are nearing end of life and would need more than $200 million to maintain operations.

This isn’t the first time AHS has looked at outsourcing laundry.

In 2015, plans to avoid multimillion-dollar upgrades to laundry facilities by outsourcing the service to a private company were undone by the NDP government.

AUPE vice-president Susan Slade said the plan is just another step towards privatization.

“It doesn’t really need to happen,” she said. “It is taking out those services that are provided right at the hospital. When you keep it in-house, you have that constant supply of laundry. You aren’t going to run out whereas that does happen in the larger centres sometimes, especially on a busy weekend.”

Slade added the money being spent is a public service as opposed to providing a profit to a shareholder. She said the union plans to take action against the plan but didn’t provide any details.

If AHS does move forward with this plan, a request for a proposal would go out in late May. A contract would then be awarded and an implementation plan developed in November. The estimated timeline once a vendor is picked would be between three to 18 months for laundry to be outsourced.

jlabine@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/jefflabine

California's strong labor laws aren't enough to protect workers, report says

Suhauna Hussain
Wed, May 15, 2024 

A study by researchers at Harvard and UC San Francisco found that 91% of California service sector workers surveyed experienced at least one labor violation in the last year at work. (Los Angeles Times)

Although California has some of the toughest labor laws in the country, a new study has found workers routinely suffer violations while on the job.

A team of researchers from UC San Francisco and Harvard University earlier this year surveyed 980 California workers at dozens of the state's largest retail, food and other service sector companies. The workers reported frequent abuses over pay, work schedules and other issues.

The study found, for example, that 41% of the workers surveyed had experienced at least one serious violation of federal labor in the last year, such as being required to work off the clock, not being paid overtime, or being paid less than minimum wage, according to the report, which was released this week.


Violations around paid sick leave and meal breaks were also common, the researchers found. More than half of workers, 58%, were not given proper rest breaks.

All told, 91% of the workers surveyed experienced at least one violation in the last year, the study found.

The findings seemed at odds with the fact that California has led the way in raising labor standards, said one of the study’s authors, Daniel Schneider, a professor of social policy and sociology at Harvard He and his co-author, Kristen Harknett, a UCSF sociology professor, wanted to understand why the state's rigorous laws weren't doing more to protect workers from abuse.

The survey of workers, Schneider said, showed it was common for workers not to report problems. Many, he said, "have been robbed of their time and their wages and the vast majority do not come forward.”

Schneider said the study found that workers who came forward to report problems to someone inside their company were often met with retaliation or other negative consequences, and that workers are unlikely to seek help from regulatory bodies such as the state labor commissioner.

"This is not to say that the laws are ineffective, but that their full promise isn't realized when they are being violated so routinely," Schneider said. "We need a robust system of enforcement to ensure these labor laws are being enforced and complied with.”

The results of the new study come against the backdrop of renewed debate over a controversial California law known as the Private Attorneys General Act that gives workers the right to file lawsuits against their employers over back wages and to seek civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees and the state of California.

Read more: The battle brewing over California workers' unique right to sue their bosses

An initiative seeking to gut the act will appear on the ballot in November, the culmination of a long-running effort by business groups to scrap it.

Backers of the ballot initiative argue the law has resulted in a slew of lawsuits that small businesses and nonprofits have little ability to fight, and say that the long, costly lawsuits workers must pursue result in their getting less money than if they had filed complaints through state agencies.

Although not an expert on the law, Schneider said he believes there should be "more avenues for workers to come forward, to pursue some kind of redress, not fewer.”

The recent study is limited in scope, Schneider said, and does not capture the experiences of undocumented workers or those in domestic, agricultural and construction jobs where violations may be even more common.

Since the survey focused on workers at large firms, it leaves out service sector workers employed at smaller firms, which also likely experience violations at higher rates, he said.

Another study published this month by researchers at Rutgers University found that minimum wage violations have more than doubled in some major metro areas in California since 2014.

Workers in the Los Angeles, San Jose and San Diego metro areas who had been paid below minimum wage lost on average about 20% of the money they were owed, or as much as $4,000 a year, the study found.

In the San Francisco area, losses were even more steep, with workers losing an average of $4,300 to $4,900 annually to minimum wage violations, according to the study.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


California sees a surge in minimum wage violations
Jonathan Williams
Tue, May 14, 2024 

Scroll back up to restore default view.


Minimum wage violations have more than doubled in California cities like Los Angeles, costing workers billions.

California workers lose up to $4,000 per year in major metro areas that include San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose, according to a study by Rutgers University.

“This is the time to be strengthening — not weakening — labor enforcement,” said Professor Janice Fine, director of the Workplace Justice Lab at Rutgers University.

The study was conducted by the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR), a research center dedicated to analyzing labor standards enforcement in the U.S.

“California is leading the way nationally in terms of strong state and local minimum wage laws, but our study shows that too many low-wage workers are not receiving the pay they are entitled to,” Fine said.

This November, a vote could come in the form of a California ballot initiative to repeal the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) act, revoking the ability to file class-action lawsuits over certain violations.

Instead of raising prices, California fast food restaurants should do this, franchisee says

Enacted in 2004, the California law empowers employees to file lawsuits for labor code violations on behalf of themselves, other workers, and the state.

The center took federal data collected from 2014 to 2023 and found that last year saw a 56% increase in violations, affecting nearly 1.5 million workers.

The study also found that mostly Black and Latino workers, and young people from the ages of 16-24 were more likely to experience minimum wage theft.

The most noticeable violation involved groups such as childcare workers, nannies, and home health care professionals.


On April 1, Californians experienced the fast-food minimum wage hike from $16 to $20 as the state continues to have one of the highest minimum wages in the country.

Business and labor groups would need to arrive at a deal before the end-of-June deadline to remove the measure. If no deal is reached, the issue will be presented to California voters in November.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Labor laws largely exclude nannies. Some are banding together to protect themselves

CLAIRE SAVAGE and MORIAH BALINGIT
Updated Wed, May 15, 2024 







Domestic Workers Rights
Sandra Milena Saenz cries during a sexual harassment prevention class for nannies and housekeepers on Saturday, April 27, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Nannies, housekeepers, and home care workers are excluded from many federal workplace protections in the United States, and the private, home-based nature of the work means abuse tends to happen behind closed doors.

 (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

NEW YORK (AP) — Map all doors in the home and figure out how to escape. Make a list of items in each room that you can use to defend yourself. Shelves, dishes, night stands, kitchen knives -- all can be weapons if you are attacked.

These are among the strategies Judith Bautista Hidalgo teaches her students -- 25 Hispanic women working as nannies, housekeepers and home care workers in the New York City area -- to defend themselves on the job. She hopes her April training on preventing sexual harassment will be a lifeline for many in the classroom who have experienced assault or abuse at work.

Domestic workers like those in Hidalgo's class are excluded from many federal workplace protections in the United States, and the private, home-based nature of the work means abuse tends to happen behind closed doors.

Although many domestic workers are covered under federal minimum wage and overtime laws, part-time and live-in workers are still exempt from some provisions. And domestic workers are generally excluded from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a federal law banning workplace discrimination, including sexual harassment — since it only applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Neither are domestic workers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which aims to ensure safe and healthy conditions for workers.

In the coming weeks, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) plans to introduce a national domestic workers bill of rights, which seeks to “reverse the historic exclusions of domestic workers from key labor laws,” according to a statement from her office.

Although previous efforts to pass similar legislation have stalled in Congress, support continues to mount this time around. But there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome, according to Ai-jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

“It’s not uncommon for a bill of the scope and significance to take decades,” she said.

Last month, domestic workers traveled to Washington, D.C., where they were in the crowd for a rally headlined by President Joe Biden. The next day, they met with Jayapal to discuss the federal domestic workers bill of rights, crowding onto couches and sharing their stories in English and Spanish.

Dulce Tovar, who has been a nanny for more than a decade, lives in El Paso, Texas, where neither the state nor the city have passed protections for domestic workers.

“There’s a lot of abuse,” Tovar said in Spanish. “If we complain about something, or ask for something, we aren’t heard. They tell us, ‘There’s a lot of people who want your job.’”

Part of the problem is that domestic work is undervalued and often dismissed as “caregiving work that women were just expected to do out of the goodness of their hearts” rather than professional work deserving of labor protections, said Julie Vogtman, senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center.

Isabel Santos, a nanny from Chicago, said many do not appreciate the expertise experienced caretakers like herself bring. Santos, 51, has been caring for children for more than two decades and has received training on early childhood development. She has potty-trained children, taught them Spanish, taught them their alphabets and colors and has made sure they were ready for school by the time they entered kindergarten.

“To support the child’s development, we have to be a little bit teacher, a little bit nurse and a little bit psychologist,” Santos said.

Domestic workers from across the country have taken their fight beyond Congress and straight to statehouses, where they have been instrumental in getting labor protections passed.

But even in the 11 states with laws on the books that specifically target domestic workers, those often go unenforced. Women are more likely to be assaulted at work than men. Domestic workers, who make less than half of what a typical worker makes and are disproportionately women and immigrant women -- many of whom lack legal work status -- are especially vulnerable to workplace exploitation, experts say.

The women taking Hidalgo’s course as part of We Rise Nanny Training in Brooklyn have no intention of being defenseless.

“We are fighters. We matter,” said Aniuska Esther, a house cleaner who attended the course on a recent Saturday afternoon. “We do the work that no one else will do.”

A coalition of organizations including Carroll Gardens Nanny Association, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations created We Rise as a low-cost education and organizing program aimed at transforming the domestic worker industry. Besides combating sexual harassment, the curriculum offers classes in English and Spanish on workers’ rights, newborn care, CPR and first aid, organizing, negotiating, family communication, child nutrition and more.

Hidalgo herself knows firsthand what it feels like to endure sexual harassment in the workplace. Last April, she said she was cleaning an apartment in New Jersey when a friend of the employer visited. He later cornered her in the kitchen, exposed himself and started to masturbate.

When he advanced toward her despite her protests, Hidalgo said she pulled out a meat knife she had just washed and held it to his throat. “Stay away from me,” she repeated. He retreated to the living room and sat down “like nothing happened,” Hidalgo said.

She was fired after reporting the incident to her employer.

A year later she's still living with the consequences. Hugs from her boyfriend or teenage son send her into a panic. Crowded subways set her on edge. It's hard to fall asleep at night.

When she felt strong enough, she came forward with her case and began teaching sexual harassment prevention classes. Some participants came forward with their own experiences, and classmates engulfed them in hugs and offered tissues.

Some said they feel afraid to speak up because they lack legal work authorization. But “the same laws apply to an undocumented worker as any other worker,” said Laura Rodriguez, a New York City area employment attorney who primarily represents low-wage immigrant workers, including domestic workers.

Although employers may threaten to call immigration authorities if domestic workers speak up about problems in the workplace, they generally don't because they risk revealing that they broke the law themselves by hiring someone without work authorization, she explained.

Some clients Rodriguez has represented experienced abuses so severe they are considered labor trafficking violations. For example, when the pandemic hit, some families insisted their nannies remain at the employer’s home to avoid spreading Covid-19, so workers were unable to go out in public or see their own families for long periods at the risk of getting fired, according to Rodriguez.

On top of that, duties often increased -- cooking meals and doing laundry for the whole family instead of just the children after parents started working remotely, for example.

Combined with lower pay and job insecurity, “the pandemic was a nightmare for every domestic worker,” according to Wendy Guerrero, program and membership coordinator for Carroll Gardens Nanny Association and a former nanny who helped organize the We Rise Nanny Training.

Esther, the housekeeper who attended Hidalgo’s class, said the trainings make her feel empowered. Before she started taking the classes, Esther had to miss four days of work because of breast cysts requiring biopsies that left her arm and chest swollen for days. She didn't know that New York law entitled her to paid sick leave, and went without pay.

“I can defend myself now. I can’t stay silent. Now I feel that the law is with me and I feel that I can speak," she said.

____

Balingit reported from Washington, D.C.

___

The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

N.B. Premier Blaine Higgs says ‘likely in for a long haul’ on public sector strike

By Staff The Canadian Press
Posted November 8, 2021 


WATCH: Premier Blaine Higgs is drawing a line in the sand in the CUPE labour dispute. The sticking point is over moving two union locals to a new pension model. Nathalie Sturgeon reports.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is showing no signs of bending on his government’s latest contract offer to striking public sector workers.

The strike by thousands of public servants, including school bus drivers, educational support staff and workers in transportation, corrections and the community college system, entered Day 11 on Monday.

The two sides are close on the issue of wages, with the government offering 10 per cent over five years and a 25-cent-per-hour annual increase, but the province is also proposing contentious pension changes for two locals.

The premier says the two locals’ pension plans are underfunded and unsustainable, adding that if the union won’t budge on the pension issue, then “we’re likely in for a long haul here.”

The union earlier rejected the proposed pension changes, and CUPE New Brunswick representatives were not immediately available for comment Monday.

On Friday, the government issued an emergency order forcing striking workers in the health-care sector to return to work, threatening fines up to $20,400 per day for employees who refuse to comply.

CUPE filed an emergency complaint about the order to the province’s Labour and Employment Board, but the complaint was dismissed by the board in a ruling filed Sunday. In its complaint, CUPE had alleged that the province was attempting to “compel, by intimidation and threat,” employees to “refrain from exercising their right to strike.”

CUPE seeks clarity around mandatory orderCUPE seeks clarity around mandatory order

The board said it was not satisfied “on the basis of the the evidence led” that there was a violation of the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

The government has also locked out members of two locals that represent school staff, and schools across the province have moved to remote learning as a result.

Higgs says the union must agree to let the two locals in question enter a process to determine a new model for their pensions. Taxpayers, he said, can’t continue to pay into a model “that has proven to have outlived its liabilities.”

“People now live longer and are retired longer than the pension formula was ever designed for. We have people retired for longer than they have worked in many cases.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2021.

— with a file from Rebecca Lau

Labour board dismisses CUPE complaint after some workers ordered back to work

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Union representing health-care workers who were forced

 back to job alleges intimidation by government

Hadeel Ibrahim · CBC News · Posted: Nov 08, 2021 

Thousands of striking and locked-out public-sector workers and supporters gather at the legislature in Fredericton on Tuesday. More than 3,000 of these workers were forced back to work over the weekend. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News)

A New Brunswick labour tribunal has dismissed an emergency complaint filed by the Canadian Union of Public Employees after the province used a COVID-19 emergency order to force health-care workers off the picket line.

On Friday, Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming said cabinet was using the Emergency Measures Act to issue an order forcing more than 3,000 striking health-care workers to go back to their jobs.

Over the weekend, the affected custodians, patient services workers and laundry workers went back to work while their union challenged the order with the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board.

According to board ruling filed Sunday, CUPE alleged the province was trying to "compel, by intimidation or threat," employees who are not designated essential to stop strikin

In its response, the province first said the labour board lacked the jurisdiction to consider the mandatory order. The province also said the order is lawful and denied CUPE's allegations.

The order does not note the reasons why the complaint was dismissed, except to say the chair was not satisfied that the province violated the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

The full written reasons are typically completed weeks after the decision itself is made.

On Saturday, CUPE president Steve Drost said the union's lawyers are looking into how they could challenge it.

"It's simply a tool that was used to interfere with these members' legal rights," Drost said of the back-to-work order.

Higgs ready to defend use of emergency act

Asked how the province would respond if CUPE went to court over use of the emergency act, Premier Blaine Higgs said the province would continue to defend the "health and safety of our citizens."  

"It's just unfortunate that CUPE would continue to challenge us in court when we have an Emergency Measures Act in place, when we have a pandemic [in] the fourth wave," Higgs told reporters Monday.

"We have situations in our hospitals that need to be addressed and we were cancelling elective surgeries and starting to get to a point where we could go beyond that.

He said he found CUPE's position hard to understand, but if the union continues to challenge the back-to-work order, "we will defend it fully in the courts."

Offer, counteroffer, pension impasse

On Thursday night, the province made CUPE officials an offer that's closer to what the union has been asking for when it comes to wage increases.

The offer includes a two per cent increase over five years, plus a 25 cent increase per hour over the same number of years. 

The province's offer also includes a memorandum of agreement, where to move forward, both sides would have to agree to allow pension representatives to find a "new retirement vehicle" for two locals. 

Higgs said Monday that the government proposal of wage increases totalling 15 per cent over five years reflected the  good work of employees.

"This offer reflects what people have done throughout the pandemic," said Higgs.

The two locals, one representing school support staff such as bus drivers, and the other representing educational and clerical assistants, are the only ones remaining with no shared-risk pension plan.

READ: The province's new emergency order forcing health-care workers back to work

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The transition to shared-risk pension plans has been contentious. In 2016, CUPE joined a lawsuit against the "unilateral conversion" of the province's public service pension plan into a shared-risk plan.

A shared-risk plan means an employee's retirement payout could increase or decrease depending on how their pension plan is performing.

"The rights of CUPE members and many other public-sector workers were violated when the government unilaterally imposed pension changes on workers, in violation of their right to free collective bargaining," Daniel Légère, then-president of CUPE New Brunswick, said in 2016.

Drost posted a video on Sunday explaining the counteroffer CUPE submitted in response. In it, he outlined wage increases that are almost identical to the ones the province was offering. However, the retirement-plan point in the province's offer would be "major concession" by the union.

Back-to-work emergency order and impact on strike, health care

The health-care workers were ordered back to work Friday after a full week of striking.

In one group, Local 1252 representing support staff and maintenance workers in hospitals, 70 per cent were designated essential and were still working.

However, the CEOs of the province's two health authorities said the system is close to a breaking point, and the remaining 30 per cent were needed urgently.

Over the week of the strike, COVID-19 testing and contact-tracing capacity was significantly reduced, with multiple vaccination clinics cancelled.

If workers don't report to work once ordered, the province could fine them between $480 and $20,400 for each day they don't comply, according to the new emergency order.

On Monday, a few days after the emergency order was enacted, Higgs said he's been impressed with the returning employees' work ethic.

"I've been so impressed with the people that have come back to work and have done so and integrated right back into the workforce as we thought or hoped they would, because they are our friends and neighbours."

That doesn't mean they're content, according to the union. Chris Curran, the president of Local 1251 representing laundry workers, said earlier that members were frustrated and angry with the use of the emergency order.

"Members feel like they've been cheated of their right to strike."