Rally: Riverview Gardens staff frustrated with delay for back pay, raises

Unionized workers at Riverview Gardens long-term care home rallied in front of the Civic Center Monday in the rain over delays in raises and retroactive pay.

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Nicole Grainger, Unifor Local 127 chairperson for Riverview Gardens, said nearly three years after taking the municipality to arbitration, unionized staff was awarded three years of wage increases – 3.5 per cent in 2022 and three per cent for both 2023 and 2024 – along with retroactive payback.

The last contract expired on Dec. 31, 2021, Grainger said. The union met with municipality on Nov. 26, a day after the arbitration decision, to ask when the retroactive pay and pay raises would be received, she said.

Municipal officials said they would get back to the union on the next day, on Nov. 27, and “we’ve heard crickets” initially, she said.

The union has since been told by the municipality they don’t have a timeline to pay out the retroactive pay or implement the pay raises because the municipality is installing a new payroll system, Grainger said.

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The union also has been told by the municipality there are two other employee groups to be paid ahead of their members.

The municipality estimates it could take until April or May before the retroactive pay and raises are implemented, she said.

Grainger said the most recent word from the municipality is the union will receive an update on Friday, but not necessarily a date when the retro pay and wage increases will come.

“We want a date and we don’t want it six months from now,” she said. “We’ve waited long enough.”

Grainger noted another concern with the update on Friday is “conveniently” coming on the last day before Christmas holidays start.

It is standard in the industry for arbitration awards to take anywhere between two to six months depending on the level of complexity of the award to be implemented, said Cathy Hoffman, chief human resource officer and general manager of corporate services, in an email.

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She noted level of complexity includes the period of time the award covers, the degree of retroactive payments and the number of bargaining members with the unit receiving the award.

“In the case of this award, it is retroactive from 2021 and applies to approximately 350 employees,” Hoffman said. “So, a fairly complex undertaking.”

It also affects pension and benefit entitlements that are connected to the award and wages, she added.

Hoffman said other factors include how many other awards or agreements “may also be in the queue for processing.

“The time of year also as an impact,” she added.

Hoffman said awards and agreements coming near the end of a year compete with such things as year end financial reporting, completion of T4’s.

“Our history demonstrates we do everything in our power to implement these awards in more than acceptable timeframes,” Hoffman said.

“It’s been very frustrating,” Grainger said of the delay and uncertainty. “My members worked all through COVID, we haven’t had a raise since January of 2021, that’s a very long time.

“This isn’t some bonus that we’re getting, this is money that’s owed to us and to me, a six-month timeline is not reasonable,” she added.

“Our members deserve this.”

[email protected]

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