Long service employees suffer as the door locks to their workplace

MONCTON:  The Union representing health care workers, CUPE Local 1252, is asking the government to stop bleeding health care services in the province.

“Today, the laundry services at the Moncton Hospital and the Tracadie-Sheila Hospital

Norma Robinson during a press conference at the Moncton Hospital concerning the closure of the laundry services at the Moncton hospital and the Tracadie-Sheila Hospital.

Norma Robinson during a press conference at the Moncton Hospital concerning the closure of the laundry services at the Moncton hospital and the Tracadie-Sheila Hospital.

are closing.  This is a very sad day for the long service employees in those two facilities,” said Norma Robinson, President of CUPE Local 1252, the New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions.

“The laundry services in the Moncton Hospital have been operating for 70 years.   At that hospital, 22 employees are losing their jobs; all of them have at least 25 years of services.  Where do you get another job when you have been working for the same employer all your life?”

“The laundry services at the Tracadie-Sheila Hospital have been there for 50 years.  Eleven people are losing their jobs today; those are all long dedicated service employees.  What is going to happen to those families?  Are they expected to go work in laundry in Fort McMurray?”

“In September, other health care workers received their layoff notice; many of them worked in long-term care units. Now, the government is moving ahead with plans to privatize the management of non-clinical services in hospitals, such as food and cleaning operations.  If this plan goes ahead, more workers will lose their jobs and we will see decent paying jobs replaced by minimum wage jobs.”

“It’s time New Brunswickers send a strong message to this government that Health Care is an important service, especially with our aging population.  We need to protect the health services we have in rural communities as well as the urban centers. It’s time to stop the bleeding of health services”, concluded Robinson.