By Harold Carmichael
Published by the Sudbury Star
Employees of the Greater Sudbury branch of a cross-Ontario home care company took to the street Monday to express their frustration with what they feel is having to pay out-of-pocket expenses in order to hold their jobs.
Some 40 Comcare Health Services workers, along with several clients of the private home care agency, protested at 4 p.m. the intersection of Lasalle Boulevard and Notre Dame Avenue.
The local office employs about 80 "elect-to-work" or on-call employees, said Service Employees International Union representative David Cheslock. Only a handful of the employees are full-or part-time workers.
Cheslock said the employees, who provide a variety of home care services, are paid the personal support worker minimum salary of $12.50 an hour, plus $1.83 an hour compensation for travel time.
But, it's the mileage rate that doesn't pay, said Cheslock.
Comcare pays 20 cents a km for every kilometre in excess of 20 km between two clients, he explained. If a travelled distance between two clients was 24 km, noted Cheslock, Comcare would pay 40 cents.
"Nobody makes any money from it," he said.
Cheslock said the 80 employees were organized in 2008 and started working toward a first contract in 2009. Getting the group a decent mileage rate improvement, he said, is a priority in the talks.
"They drive their own vehicles to work every day and they are not compensated for that cost," he said. "And a lot of their clients are not even in town. They are in places like St. Charles, Estaire, Markstay."
Cheslock said the purpose of Monday's protest was to draw public attention to the mileage issue.
"It's a contract issue. Also, to try and get the government to realize their budgetary process has led to this predicament through low bids."
Pat Chastang, a SEIU spokeswoman in Toronto, said the mileage rate issue is costing the home care industry valued employees.
"What has been happening is fewer and fewer people are get-t ing into the profession and people in it are dropping out because they are finding better jobs," she said.
Kathy Mastrangelo, regional operations manager for Comcare in Greater Sudbury, declined to comment on the protest.
"We're currently going through negotiating a contract with our staff in Sudbury," she said.
Contract talks have been ongoing since last November, said Mastrangelo.
When asked how big an issue mileage rates are in the talks, Mastrangelo said the government pays Comcare to provide a service.
She said Comcare strives "to create an environment in which they (staff ) provide the best care possible."