Blaine Mills, Sandi Jack , Gina Galimba Lindley , Wally Friendrich , Mary Meldrum, Doug Wilson (left to right) were out protesting against Westbank First Nation over severance pay from Pine Acres long term care home.
Image Credit: Submitted/Rebecca Mills
August 29, 2022 - 7:00 PM
On the same day former employees of the Pine Acres long term care home protested against Westbank First Nation over the amount of severance they received, the band has said it will pay them the outstanding amount by Sept. 2.
The band closed the care home last fall and terminated about 105 workers. Since then there has been a dispute over the amount of severance pay the workers are owed.
For someone with five years of experience the difference was five weeks pay under the Employment Standards Act versus six months required in the collective agreement, Brian Mills, the former shop steward and unit chair for the B.C. General Employees’ Union told iNFOnews.ca.
Severance amounts vary based on years of service.
“We’ve got elections coming up so a lot of the band members and former workers want to draw attention to the situation,” Mills said, referring to the Sept. 15 election for chief and council. “Hopefully we’ll put a fire under their ass, so to speak and end this and get some closure because band members are extremely upset about the closure itself and the band members who work there still haven’t got their money, as well as everyone else.”
About 20 people gathered near the facility today, Aug. 29, to protest the fact that the dispute had yet to be resolved.
That may or may not have been the catalyst for the resolution of the conflict but negotiations have been going on between the band and the union for some time.
"In June 2022 an arbitration decision was upheld requiring Westbank First Nation to pay additional severance to former employees of Pine Acres Home, as a result of the permanent closure of the facility," states an email from the band sent to iNFOnews.ca today. "Westbank First Nation is anxious to bring this matter to closure and has been working with the union to obtain their confirmation of the calculations.
"A recent arbitration order initiated by the union seeking additional information surrounding the calculations has caused further delays in making the payments to employees. Earlier today Westbank First Nation provided the additional information required to the union. Westbank First Nation intends to make the final severance payments to former employees Sept 2, bringing this matter to closure."
Mills worked in maintenance at Pine Acres for 33 years and was involved in bringing the union into the workplace.
His wife, Rebecca, worked in reception and scheduling for 32 years at the care home.
Both lost their jobs last fall when the band announced Pine Acres was closing permanently,
“Pre-COVID, our plan was to expand the facility," Chief Christopher Derickson said in a news release last October. “But in these unstable times in the health-care industry, compounded with the new public health order for mandatory COVID vaccinations for health-care workers, we have found ourselves unable to continue to ensure sufficient staffing levels.”
READ MORE: Westbank First Nation long-term care home closing, victim of vaccine mandate
In fact, Mills said, only three or four workers refused to get vaccinated.
More at issue was the fact that their wages were $3 to $4 an hour less than in other care homes, which made it more difficult to hire new staff. Those wage differences were an issue they were going to the bargaining table to try to resolve.
Instead, the home was closed and workers paid severance.
Mills estimated that more than half the employees had been there for five years or more.
“We had a lot of long-term employees,” Mills said. “Regardless of how the band ran the facility, the people there did excellent care. It was something I would tout to the band all the time that this is how we should show the province how we take care of our elders.”
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