In an important advance for the home care sector, a group of home care workers in Sudbury, Ontario have reached their first tentative collective agreement with Comcare, a for-profit home care agency.

The deal was negotiated one day after a rally was held outside Comcare's office in Sudbury by home care workers, seniors, and local organizations that put the company on notice.

The demonstration drew 150 people from the community and was joined by union members from the United Steel Workers, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Canadian Auto Workers, and Public Service Alliance of Canada.

When workers chose to organize and join SEIU Local 1 more than a year ago, Comcare's district manager told the media "we cherish each one of (them) for their dedication and professionalism in providing excellent care to our client".

Yet for more than a year the profitable company engaged in foot-dragging and stalling, forcing home care workers to pay out of pocket for mileage, gas and travel time - leading some to leave the sector.

Many home care workers across Ontario leave their jobs for entry-level work in other sectors to try and make ends meet.

As our population ages, the importance of home care workers' roles in letting care recipients choose to age at home will continue to increase.

These workers need to be able to earn a living wage and have the importance of their work recognized so that they can continue providing care.

The alternative is to continue on a destructive path that dissolves the continuity of care between care workers and care recipients. This continuity of the care relationship is the basic ingredient of quality home care.

For Comcare workers, one of their immediate priorities was mileage.

Home care employers presently use a wide variety of methods to compensate workers for using their own vehicles for work. Many use complicated formulas and minimum kilometer thresholds before workers get any compensation at all - or pay nothing.

In effect, workers end up paying for the costs to use their own cars and for gas while getting paid little or nothing between house visits - a particularly important problem in rural areas. In effect, they are subsidizing employers. The longer Comcare workers in Sudbury went without a first contract, the longer they were paying these costs out of their own pockets.

The deal reached with the company after the public demonstration is now being evaluated by Comcare workers in Sudbury, who will vote on the agreement this week. Negotiations with Comcare are also underway in Thunder Bay, while negotiations with Comcare in Toronto, Sault Ste Marie and Sarnia will begin later this year.