Personal care home workers picket in Winnipeg to decry Extendicare payroll problems

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 10:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Dozens of health-care enactment workers who enactment astatine Extendicare idiosyncratic attraction homes successful Manitoba picketed successful Winnipeg connected Wednesday, calling connected their leader to hole ongoing issues with its third-party payroll system.

Dietary staff, health-care aides and housekeepers were among those who raised their voices and waved flags successful the rainfall connected their one-day occupation enactment extracurricular Extendicare's Tuxedo Villa idiosyncratic attraction home.

May Quinto, a longtime health-care adjutant astatine the Corydon Avenue determination and national leader, said she hears from members astir compensation errors each paycheque.

"They are frustrated," said Quinto, who is president of Canadian Union of Public Employees' Local 2180, which represents workers astatine the attraction home.

With each paycheque, she said, "they request to spell record a payroll inquiry, due to the fact that they're missing immoderate hours of their pay."

"There are immoderate unpaid premiums," and "it took america a ... twelvemonth to beryllium capable to get a backmost wage for that," said Quinto.

CUPE says its members person besides reported incorrect calculations for benefits, including permission and sick days, on with incorrect seniority lists.

The national represents astir 1,200 health-care enactment workers astatine Extendicare's 8 idiosyncratic attraction homes successful Manitoba. The for-profit supplier operates 2 locations successful Brandon and six successful Winnipeg. 

Extendicare adopted the Workday payroll strategy astatine those locations successful 2023, Quinto said. In her 21 years moving astatine the Corydon attraction home, she didn't acquisition challenges with the strategy until aft the providers switched, she said.

In an email to CBC News, an Extendicare spokesperson apologized to workers affected by immoderate discrepancies and acknowledged their frustration, though the spokesperson said basal wage for regular hours worked had not been affected.

Extendicare adopted the caller quality resources and payroll strategy to amended seizure the much than 250 corporate agreements of its workers and to modernize however it supports them, the spokesperson said.

The institution has created a dedicated squad to woody with mistakes and is prioritizing compensation issues by offering regular enactment meetings astatine its idiosyncratic attraction homes and by moving with the union, according to the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, CUPE's members are calling connected Extendicare to prosecute a third-party auditor to look into the discrepancies and marque definite workers are paid properly.

Quinto says dealing with the issues connected a case-by-case ground has near workers exasperated.

"Two years is an unacceptable clip framework for specified systemic issues to stay unresolved," she said. 

The workers "gave their hearts and hard hours … to this job, truthful they should not beryllium warring for what they are owed."

CUPE has filed implicit 40 complaints astir the payroll strategy successful Manitoba, the national said successful a quality release. Some of those grievances impact much than 100 workers who haven't gotten the retro payments they were owed, the merchandise said.

The national says employees astatine immoderate of Extendicare's facilities successful Ontario person besides picketed implicit akin concerns.