Eastern Health makes 550 job cuts

Mismanagement continues at Eastern Health as employer eliminates jobs.

St. John's (05 June 2012) - On May 29, the CEO of Eastern Health called union leaders to a meeting for the purpose of announcing the elimination of 550 full time equivalent positions, 385 of which are actual positions. This was the first time that the Newfoundland and Labrador Assocation of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE) had any indication of this course of action by Eastern Health.

The union was informed that Eastern Health had contracted a consulting firm to conduct a peer review to assess how it was performing relative to other Health Care Boards in the country. NAPE/NUPGE understands that the consulting firm found Eastern Health to be the worst managed in the country.

Unfortunately, Eastern Health tried to deflect attention away from their poor management skills onto the backs of some of NAPE/NUPGE members. Carol Furlong, NAPE President, said "Part of this effort, I believe, included a deliberate and clear attempt to mislead the public as to the wages paid to some of our members." The union makes no apology for negotiating decent wages for its members.

The cuts are being portrayed as having no impact on quality of care but it is not possible to take the equivalent of 550 positions out of the system and have no negative impact on patient care. By their own admission, Eastern Health is going to reduce constant care. Staff on leave will not be replaced which will lead to a reduction in the amount of hours front line staff can dedicate to direct patient care. This will place patients at risk.

The union believes the real issue is the mismanagement which has created a deficit for several years. Instead of dealing with the source of the problem – mismanagement – Eastern Health is adopting a course of action which we believe will cause a reduction in the levels of patient care and cause undue hardship to the staff on the front lines.

Contracting out food service will see the transfer of scarce health care dollars to for-profit, private sector companies. NAPE/NUPGE argues the experience at Eastern Health has proven that the privatization of some health care services is inefficient and more costly. Food service should be maintained in-house by experienced and trained employees.

Faced with a report indicating that Eastern Health is poorly managed, the government had an obligation to hold the senior management team at Eastern Health responsible. Instead they are letting Eastern Health attack its own staff and reduce care to patients.

Union representatives will be meeting with management of Eastern Health for three purposes:

• to outline our disagreement with the way this was handled;
• to get additional details on how they intend to implement the cuts and the impact on members; and
• to ensure that the rights of members under the collective agreements are adhered to.

The union will continue to work on behalf of its members at Eastern Health to fight these unnecessary and ill-advised cuts and work with the public to protect vital health services.

"Health care workers deserve better and so do the people of Newfoundland," says Furlong.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE