“If We Have to Go on Strike, We Will,” Say Nova Scotia’s Long-term Care Workers

Ahead of a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement with the province, workers at over 30 Nova Scotia long-term care facilities have voted in favour of striking, should it become necessary to achieve better wages.

According to CUPE, Nova Scotia’s long-term care workers are the lowest-paid in Atlantic Canada, with many making less than $20/hour despite decades of experience.

“We don’t want to say it’s all about money, but we’re not bringing people to the sector unless you can pay them a living wage,” said Tammy Martin, long-term care coordinator for CUPE. “And nobody’s coming in to make $18.77/hour caring for some of the most vulnerable Nova Scotians in the province.”

Dale Henneberry, who has worked at Halifax’s St. Vincent’s Nursing Home since 1989 (with the exception of 1995-2005, years she stayed home to raise her children), is one of the province’s long-term care workers making just $18.77/hour.

Henneberry told PressProgress that even though she was scared when the idea of a strike vote was first proposed by her CUPE local, she and her coworkers wanted to send a message to the government.

“We wanted to show the government this is serious,” said Henneberry.

In October, workers at St. Vincent’s voted 97.5% in favour of a strike mandate.

The agreement covering long-term care workers in Nova Scotia expired over two years ago. Conciliation talks to reach a new one are scheduled for today and Friday.

Martin told PressProgress that, while most details specific to each long-term care home where CUPE’s members work are negotiated with those facilities, the overall financial package for Nova Scotia’s long-term care workers is bargained at the provincial level. The expiration dates for these contracts are also aligned, allowing the wave of strike votes seen at long-term care facilities across Nova Scotia.

In a bargaining update from Nov. 18, the CUPE Nova Scotia Long-Term & Community Care Committee wrote that bargaining with the province had broken down following a wage offer that “followed the same pattern offered home support and other healthcare sectors, which amounted to less than two dollars over four years for our lowest-paid coworkers, such as seamstresses or ward clerks.”

Martin said that for “environmental services” workers in the province’s long-term care homes — those who work in the laundry and dietary departments — their hourly pay is $10 less than their counterparts’ in Prince Edward Island.

“I can’t say why it’s such a gap, other than the PEI government realized that in order to be able to recruit and retain workers, you have to pay them a living wage,” said Martin.

Premier Tim Houston promised in his 2021 election campaign that he would “fix healthcare” and, three years later, successfully sought reelection on his record. In recent years, the government appointed the country’s first Minister of Seniors and Long-term Care, a position held by MLA Barbara Adams, and announced plans to add 5,700 more long-term care rooms in the province.

Last year, PEI’s healthcare workers, including those in long-term care, ratified a new collective agreement that included a 10.5% wage increase over three years, as well as a $5.50/hour wage-grid reset.

Those in New Brunswick, represented by the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, ratified a new agreement last year as well, that saw wage increases of more than a dollar an hour for each year of the six-year agreement.

Terri Cogswell has worked at St. Vincent’s for almost 20 years. She told PressProgress she’s done “just about everything you can do” at St. Vincent’s, working as a personal care worker, long-term care assistant, as well as in roles in the kitchen and now in housekeeping.

She said it’s common for workers in long-term care to work in a number of different departments and that those transferable skills are useful in a workplace that would benefit from more staff. Despite decades of experience, she said she’s had difficulty affording essentials like rent and food.

“People are over-worked,” said Cogswell. “They’re trying to work overtime and just pick up as many shifts as possible because, you know, I make $18.77 an hour, and that’s only maybe two-and-a-half dollars over minimum wage. So people get burnt out.”

Nova Scotia’s minimum wage is currently $16.50/hour. It is set to increase twice in 2026: to $16.75 on April 1 and then to $17 on Oct. 1.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) calculated the 2025 living wage for workers in Halifax to be $29.40. According to the CCPA, the living wage “reflects what workers need to cover the basic costs of living and participate fully in their communities.”

Long-term care workers took part in an information picket in New Glasgow, N.S., in December. (Pic via the CUPE Nova Scotia Long Term and Community Care Committee on Facebook)

One of the major issues CUPE has highlighted through the wave of strike votes is a knock-on effect of low wages: the difficulty these facilities face in recruiting new workers and retaining them. Cogswell described the hiring process in long-term care facilities as a “revolving door.”

Long-term care facilities typically host students for practicum placements. Students are invited to apply for jobs at the facilities after completing their practicums, but Henneberry said they rarely stay in the sector because they can make more money working in hospitals.

Trouble recruiting and retaining workers impacts the work of long-time employees like Henneberry. She said she feels like she’s “always training somebody different.”

“Instead of doing the job of your own, you’re doing the job of two,” she said. “It becomes stressful. You don’t get as much done as you want to get done in a day.”

Still, Henneberry said she loves working with the elderly. It’s a role she’s always wanted to fill, even when she was young. Her current position, long-term care assistant, gives her the opportunity to spend quality time with the residents at her facility, playing games, looking through photo albums and reminiscing about their younger selves.

She said this extra attention is important for both residents and their families.

“I get family of the residents that come tell me, ‘I haven’t seen Mom sing along to a song in so long, and today she did’,” said Henneberry. “For them to know that their loved one is getting this extra little bit of attention and care, I think, is meaningful to the families as well.”

Cogswell said her initial wariness about a strike vote disappeared once she learned how hard the bargaining team was having to fight for just a few dollars’ raise. Seeing the results from strike votes across the province has strengthened her resolve, but she’s hopeful that an agreement will come from the conciliation meetings.

“If we have to go on strike, we will, but it’d be nice if we didn’t have to, and that they reach an agreement that’s good for everybody,” said Cogswell. “The government has the money. There’s absolutely no reason that people in my position are making $18.77 after working 20 years.”