Charlotte Millington – 2nd VP, Hospital Employees’ Union

As a member of the Hospital Employees’ Union, I am proud to be a part of the Care Can’t Wait campaign, which aims to improve working and caring conditions in seniors’ care across British Columbia.

One of the key goals of our campaign is to establish common standards for wages and benefits across B.C.’s long-term care and assisted living sector through a province-wide collective agreement. As a healthcare worker, I know firsthand that many seniors’ care workers are currently paid low wages, which can lead to high turnover rates and a lack of continuity of care for vulnerable seniors. By establishing common standards for wages and benefits, we can ensure that seniors’ care workers are paid fairly for the important work that they do.

Another important goal of our campaign is to limit the construction of new long-term care and assisted living capacity to public and non-profit operators. For-profit operators may prioritize profit over quality of care, which can lead to poor working and caring conditions for seniors’ care workers and lower-quality care for vulnerable seniors. By limiting the construction of new long-term care and assisted living capacity to public and non-profit operators, we can prioritize quality of care for vulnerable seniors.

The campaign also aims to strengthen transparency and accountability requirements for care home operators who receive provincial funding. This is important because there have been instances of care home operators failing to provide adequate care to seniors while still receiving funding from the government. (Allegedly.) By strengthening transparency and accountability requirements, we can ensure that care home operators are held accountable for providing quality care to vulnerable seniors.

Finally, our campaign aims to continue the levelling up of wages in seniors’ care until common standards are established. This is important because many seniors’ care workers are currently paid low wages, which can lead to high turnover rates and a lack of continuity of care for vulnerable seniors. By continuing to level up wages in seniors’ care, we can attract and retain talented healthcare workers who are committed to providing quality care to vulnerable seniors.

In conclusion, as a member of the Hospital Employees’ Union, I am proud to be a part of the Care Can’t Wait campaign. By establishing common standards for wages and benefits, limiting the construction of new long-term care and assisted living capacity to public and non-profit operators, strengthening transparency and accountability requirements, ending subcontracting for care and support services, and continuing to level up wages in seniors’ care, we can ensure that vulnerable seniors receive the quality care they deserve, while seniors’ care workers receive the respect and support they need. I urge you to join me in supporting this important campaign.