More than 100 employees at the nursing home in Belfast have split from one of the biggest unions in the province.
Jeffrey Haight, one of the employees at the Dr. John M. Gillis Memorial Lodge, said they voted to leave the Union of Public Sector Employees (UPSE) and form their own union.
The employees signed a new collective agreement with Douglas MacKenzie, owner and operator, on Friday, calling themselves the Gillis Lodge Employee Group Association.
Haight is the president of the employees’ group.
“It's the first time in history of the Island that this has ever happened,’’ said Haight, president of the new employees’ union. “In laymen’s terms, we kicked the union out and started our own.’’
He said it took approximately two years to pull out of UPSE and form their own group. The agreement they signed on Friday is 43 pages long.
“It’s not a bunch of fluff stuff. It’s a serious real agreement.’’
Haight said it makes sense to break away from UPSE. Instead of someone from an office in Charlottetown calling MacKenzie about an issue, they take their concerns to the owner themselves.
“How can someone who doesn’t work in the business or in a department really know what they’re talking about? For us, that’s why there’s people from every department on the board, because they know what it takes to make things work. It’s more of a logical arrangement because everyone involved knows what they need to make their job happen.’’
Haight said annual union dues with UPSE were $500 per person. That figure has dropped to $120 per person, or $5 per paycheque, now.
It cost them $3,000 to register Gillis Lodge Employee Group Association with the provincial government.
“It was a historic event,’’ said MacKenzie, referring to the collective agreement signed on Friday. “We were with UPSE and the staff weren’t happy, not a bit happy about that.’’
MacKenzie said the atmosphere around the nursing home is already better.
“Oh yeah,’’ he said.
The Gillis Lodge is a dual license facility, operating since 1988 and currently consists of 68 nursing care and 13 community care beds. And, there are plans to expand.
Haight said union action in the past caused friction with some of the staff.
“You know what? We work in the residents’ home; it’s their house. Why should we be allowed . . . to picket and disturb these people? We wanted to see if we could do it on our own and we did it.’’
The Guardian contacted UPSE for comment but the call was not returned.
More than 100 employees at the nursing home in Belfast have split from one of the biggest unions in the province.
Jeffrey Haight, one of the employees at the Dr. John M. Gillis Memorial Lodge, said they voted to leave the Union of Public Sector Employees (UPSE) and form their own union.
The employees signed a new collective agreement with Douglas MacKenzie, owner and operator, on Friday, calling themselves the Gillis Lodge Employee Group Association.
Haight is the president of the employees’ group.
“It's the first time in history of the Island that this has ever happened,’’ said Haight, president of the new employees’ union. “In laymen’s terms, we kicked the union out and started our own.’’
He said it took approximately two years to pull out of UPSE and form their own group. The agreement they signed on Friday is 43 pages long.
“It’s not a bunch of fluff stuff. It’s a serious real agreement.’’
Haight said it makes sense to break away from UPSE. Instead of someone from an office in Charlottetown calling MacKenzie about an issue, they take their concerns to the owner themselves.
“How can someone who doesn’t work in the business or in a department really know what they’re talking about? For us, that’s why there’s people from every department on the board, because they know what it takes to make things work. It’s more of a logical arrangement because everyone involved knows what they need to make their job happen.’’
Haight said annual union dues with UPSE were $500 per person. That figure has dropped to $120 per person, or $5 per paycheque, now.
It cost them $3,000 to register Gillis Lodge Employee Group Association with the provincial government.
“It was a historic event,’’ said MacKenzie, referring to the collective agreement signed on Friday. “We were with UPSE and the staff weren’t happy, not a bit happy about that.’’
MacKenzie said the atmosphere around the nursing home is already better.
“Oh yeah,’’ he said.
The Gillis Lodge is a dual license facility, operating since 1988 and currently consists of 68 nursing care and 13 community care beds. And, there are plans to expand.
Haight said union action in the past caused friction with some of the staff.
“You know what? We work in the residents’ home; it’s their house. Why should we be allowed . . . to picket and disturb these people? We wanted to see if we could do it on our own and we did it.’’
The Guardian contacted UPSE for comment but the call was not returned.
