AUTHOR’S NOTE: In trying to present a balanced view of both sides in this situation, The Outlook pursued interviews with both the management of Variety Place Association as well as the affected direct care workers for this story, but management declined a formal interview at this time.
It’s closing in on two weeks since direct care workers were locked out of Variety Place in Outlook amidst a fierce battle with management over wage increases, and from the worker point of view, it’s unknown what it’ll take to get back to the bargaining table with management.
“If I could answer that, I would,” said, Carmella Verwimp, who has worked at Variety Place for 11 years. “I’m not sure what it’s going to take, but I think it’s going to be the support and the push from the community and from the families to get us back to the table. I really think that’s what it’s going to take.”
On Sunday afternoon, May 21, staff discovered that the doors of the building were locked, three days after the workers union, SEIU-West, notified Variety Place of their intention to initiate job action. Variety Place management then implemented their contingency plan of locking out the bargaining employees in order to see that the needs of their residents and participants wasn’t comprised.
Variety Place operates three group care homes in Outlook, as well as the SARCAN recycling depot. Highly-regarded as a pillar of the community for many years, the association and its programming provides a number of services to adults who are mentally and/or physically-challenged. These participants live in group homes, which are staffed 24 hours a day to meet their needs.
Since the doors have been locked, a number of residents have been displaced to temporary accommodations in the wake of this situation.
For their part, Variety Place – which is funded by the Ministry of Social Services – has stated that the organization hasn’t received any increase in salary funding for the fiscal year, and no increase in any funding since 2013, which is also the length of time that workers have been without a contract. A lack of government funding means that Variety Place is “not in a position” to provide a wage increase at this time.
Direct care workers provide support for residents in a number of ways, including administering medication, cooking and feeding, bathing and hygiene care, as well as doing laundry, cleaning around the homes, and engaging the residents with all sorts of activities and recreation.
Since the lockout, workers have been keeping their spirits up and staying positive in the wake of an uncertain future, stationing themselves on a corner lot and building located at the four-way stop in Outlook. Every day, they put on their union colors, hold up signs, and encourage motorists to wave and honk in support of their pursuit of what they believe is a fair wage increase.
Verwimp says she really wasn’t that shocked to see the doors locked in the first place.
“I was surprised, but I fully expected that to happen,” she said. “Some participants had been moved out before we even served our strike notice, so that was an indication of what was coming down the road.”
Carmella says the goal of the workers since May 21 has been to get their message out and let people know what’s going on in their community.
“We’ve been out here and walking the streets of Outlook, as many have probably seen and heard,” she said. “We’ve had some information that we’ve been sharing with the public, and today we did a BBQ in support of the Outlook & District Food Bank, with all the proceeds going back to them. We’re just trying to be out here and be visible.”
The support from much of the public has been a welcome gift to Verwimp and her fellow workers.
“There’s some more support!” she laughed, right after a semi honked outside at the intersection. “It’s been really good so far. We’ve had a lot of people stopping in and saying, ‘What’s going on?’ because I don’t think Outlook has ever seen anything like this as long as I can remember, and I’ve been here for 20 or 21 years. There’s never been anything like this happen. People are curious about what’s going on, and the ones stopping in to talk to us have been positive. We haven’t heard anything negative from the people talking to us.”
Though there has been some positive discussion with parents and families of residents and participants – albeit limited – Verwimp says everyone’s goal is to see them go back to their group homes and for staff to go back to work.
“We actually haven’t talked too much with parents and families,” she said. “We have had a couple of visits, some home visits, and some of them have been very positive. But they’re concerned about their family members, and they want us back at work and the participants back in their homes where they need to be.”
Despite the workers keeping a sunny disposition during this time, it’s also been difficult to mask frustration with the entire ordeal.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Carmella. “We feel deeply for our participants that have been displaced, whether they’re with their families or in other communities. They need to be back in their homes, because those group homes *are* their homes. That’s where they need to be, and that’s where we want them to be.”
Barb Cape, President of the SEIU-West union that represents the Variety Place direct care workers, says this is a situation unlike anything seen in the community.
“I understand that there’s never been anything like it in the town of Outlook, so I think that’s interesting,” she said. “I think it’s indicative of the feeling of the public that low wages and low pay for people who work really hard in the community is not okay, and we need to stand up and do something about it.”
Cape says what it comes down to is treating people with respect and compensating them fairly for their work.
“Whether it’s the Variety Place lockout or a disruption in health care, people are standing together and saying that this is not okay,” she said. “People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and part of that is getting a good paycheck.”
The union says they’re willing to do what it takes to get the message of the workers across, but they also want to keep the lines of communication open with Variety Place management in the hopes of getting residents and staff back to work as soon as possible.
“From SEIU’s perspective, we are doing everything in our power to get the residents participants back into Variety Place, so there are a number of avenues that we’re pursuing in the next couple of days to try and get that to happen,” said Barb. “That includes reaching out to Variety Place, reaching out to the chief spokesperson, and also sharing the information with the people in Outlook and Saskatchewan at large. We need people to understand that there is support for this to happen, the participants and residents need to go back, and then let’s try and figure out what happens with the collective agreement.”
With the lockout and the ensuing tumultuous relationship between workers and management, it’s likely going to be difficult to go back to work and pretend like everything is back to normal when or if the issues are resolved.
“It’ll be difficult because there’s going to be a lot of hardship between people in the community and the employer and employees,” said Carmella. “However, I think as long as we stick together and try to stay positive about the whole thing, we’ll be fine.”
