'We're looking for a fair deal': Information picket held by Chartwell Leamington employees

Workers at Chartwell Leamington Retirement Residence held an information picket Wednesday afternoon after recent contract negotiations between the union and employer went swiftly to arbitration, according to officials.

President of Unifor Local 2458 Tullio DiPonti said that roughly 40 employees have been working without a contract since July 2022.

“We definitely need to take care of these workers that work here,” DiPonti said. “We're not asking for a whole lot of money, but we want to make sure that they can go to the grocery store and buy groceries for the family.”

DiPonti said in July, the union met with Chartwell with the intention of negotiating a new collective agreement, but explained that instead of returning to the table to negotiate, the employer allegedly came back with nothing, sending talks to arbitration.

“We're looking for a fair deal to make sure that these people can take care of their own families,” DiPonti said. “They're just above minimum wage and I can't believe that after what they went through, and the whole country went through, and the world went through with a pandemic, where they came out, and they made sure that these residents were taken care of, that we have to do rallies to get this company back to the table.”

Workers at Chartwell Leamington Retirement Residence held an information picket August 2, 2023, after recent contract negotiations between the union and employer went swiftly to arbitration. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

DiPonti said workers are looking for a modest wage increase and more hours, noting Chartwell reduced workers’ hours and cut resident services, leading to reduced vacation time, burnout, and increased workloads.

In a statement to CTV News Windsor, Chartwell Retirement Residences’ Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations Mary Perrone-Lisi said, "We appreciate the great efforts our people put forward every day to ensure the delivery of safe and quality services to our residents. At Chartwell, we fully respect the union's right to demonstrate as well as the collective bargaining and arbitration processes. At this time, we would reserve discussing details related to these processes to the appropriate forum, however we look forward to a timely resolution to all matters related to negotiations."

DiPonti said since the workers are employed at a retirement home, they cannot strike. He told CTV News there hasn't been any indication for when the union and the employer will go ahead to arbitration.

“The staff here are just looking for a modest wage and working conditions obviously, they go hand in hand. We're not looking to break the bank. What we're looking for is to make sure that they got enough money at the end of that week that they can go out to the grocery store and buy groceries for their families,” said DiPonti.

Workers at Chartwell Leamington Retirement Residence held an information picket August 2, 2023, after recent contract negotiations between the union and employer went swiftly to arbitration. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Meantime, labour experts suggest a recent string of rejected tentative agreements across the country, including a recent deal turned down by Windsor Salt employees, signal that workers are expecting more from their employers and their unions.

“Pre pandemic union members were content with wage increases that more or less kept pace with inflation,” said Larry Savage, a professor in the labour studies department at Brock University.

“I think the pandemic has given workers this heightened sense of their own worth. And you combine that with the spike in inflation, low unemployment, and the cost of living crisis, and that is a recipe for increased union militancy, increased strike action. I think that given these new conditions, workers are now far more willing to stand up and fight back,” Savage added.

Savage said, “Workers rejecting a tentative agreement is not unheard of, but it's certainly an uncommon occurrence and what that tells me is that workers are very unhappy. They're fed up. They have increased expectations about what their labour is worth and they're demanding more from both their unions and their employers.”

Savage added, “Into the future, whether or not we continue to see big union demands at the bargaining table that's really going to be up to employers, because if they don't want to pay living wages, they will absolutely have to contend with more strike action, and more upset within their workforces.”

 

— With files from The Canadian Press