A Canadian official expects nursing home workers seeking raises to reject a new wage proposal, even though the plan has yet to be presented to them. Canadian providers, much like their counterparts to the south, are struggling to adequately staff and pay skilled nursing staff.
Blaine Higgs, government leader of the New Brunswick province, expects to present a new wage proposal to the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes within the next two weeks. He said this will be the “final” offer the province will propose.
The union is seeking a 20% wage increase over four years for nursing home workers. Wage talks have been ongoing since 2016, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The government, however, has pushed to limit wage increases to 1% a year due to limited funding.
“Right up front, it’s not going to be what they want,” Higgs said. “It’s going to be, you know, we need to find money in the system.”
Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, said it’s “unfortunate” that (Higgs) believes the proposal is something workers won’t like and speculated whether even offering a new proposal would be “a waste of time,” according to the report.
