Workers at one of the largest city-owned long-term-care homes in Toronto are calling on officials to address “chronic” staffing shortages and “mismanagement” they say are putting the quality of residents’ care at risk.
At a rally Monday afternoon in front of Rexdale’s Kipling Acres Long-Term Care Home, some 80 members of CUPE Local 79, the union that represents some 4,000 public nursing home workers, decried what they say are “toxic” work environments caused by “harassment” from management and overwork due to hundreds of job vacancies.
“These workers have been dealing with unimaginable stress made worse by positions left vacant, forcing them to shoulder the burden of understaffing,” Nas Yadollahi, president of Local 79 told the crowd, which responded with chants of “Shame!”
“Staff in the city’s long-term-care homes deserve to feel safe and supported while they’re doing their jobs and the residents deserve to be cared for by staff who aren’t overworked and overwhelmed.”
There are 462 unfilled positions across the city’s Seniors Services and Long-Term Care division, according Local 79, which represents a vacancy rate of about 12 per cent in the union’s long-term-care positions. The union also says that just 30 per cent of the workforce across all the positions it represents in the city’s nursing homes are full-time, with the remaining 70 per cent part-time.
Local 79 says the city’s Seniors Services and Long-Term Care division is projected to report a $15.4 million surplus by the end of the year
At Kipling Acres, a 337-bed facility and one of 10 long-term-care homes owned and operated by the City of Toronto, there are currently 32 unfilled positions, the union says, resulting in unsafe working conditions and growing number of grievances from workers.
“We are dealing with more than just low staff levels. We are facing racism, intimidation, reprisal, retaliation, harassment,” said Palma Clarke, a Personal Support Worker (PSW) who works at Kipling Acres. Clarke, who is Black, says that for years she has put up with racist comments.
“When I tried to speak up, I was silenced by managers … Today I’m not silent anymore. I’m standing tall.”
In emails to the Star, the City of Toronto said it “does not tolerate discrimination or harassment and is committed to promoting respectful conduct, tolerance and inclusion.” The city added that it has implemented a Human Rights and Anti-Harassment/Discrimination (HRAP) policy, which outlines how to report discrimination and harassment, and “remains committed to supporting the overall health and well-being of all staff in its long term care homes.”
“We recognize that the work can be demanding and we take seriously any concerns brought forward by city staff,” the city said. “Over the past few years, the city has created space to actively engage long-term-care workers within all of its homes. Through this ongoing engagement, meaningful improvements have been made for staff, as well as the more than 2,600 people living in city-operated long term care homes, both proactively and as a result of staff feedback.”
In its email, the city would not address questions about, nor acknowledge, an independent third-party investigation the union says was conducted at Kipling Acres earlier this year.
Yadollahi said her union has asked the city for the results of the investigation, but nothing has been forthcoming. It is now trying to obtain a copy of any investigation report through a freedom-of-information request.
The union’s concerns come at a time when demand for long-term-care beds in the city far outstrips supply.
At the same time, the number of beds in the city has been dropping over the last three years with the shutdown or announced closure of six privately-owned nursing homes, many of which cannot afford to renovate their facilities to meet new provincial design standards.
