Long-term care workers across N.S. take strike votes, prepare for job action

HALIFAX – Nearly 5,000 long-term care workers in Nova Scotia are considering a strike, saying they are fed up of low pay and chronic understaffing.

The union representing the workers say it has been trying to negotiate a new contract since the last one expired, two years ago.

“A large portion of our membership make $18.77 an hour, when their counterparts in the rest of Atlantic Canada are close to $30 an hour,” says Canadian Union of Public Employees representative Tammy Martin, noting that Nova Scotia long-term care workers are the lowest paid in the region. 

“We have a member who lives in her car and showers at the facility, because she couldn’t afford a car and an apartment, and in order to get to work, she chose the car.”

The workers are spread out across 52 long-term care homes in the province. Workers at two of those facilities have already voted in favour of striking, and the other units are holding strike votes over the next few weeks.

The Nova Scotia government says it is hoping to resolve the labour dispute as soon as possible.

“The province recognizes and deeply values the essential role that these employees play in delivering quality care,” said Labour Minister John Lohr in a statement.  

Martin says the low wages also make it hard for facilities to recruit and train new staff. As a result, she says some homes are severely understaffed, including one facility where a single worker was left to single-handedly look after 24 residents due to low staffing.

Martin says the residents can suffer in those circumstances.

“Not everyone’s getting up. Not everyone’s getting dressed,” she said. “At those numbers, you can only do what is absolutely required.” 

The Essential Health and Community Services Act prevents long-term care homes from shutting down entirely in the event of a strike, but Martin says staff would move to a reduced level of care with minimal coverage if a strike should happen. 

The government declined to comment about whether it believed wages and staffing levels were too low.

Union reps say they’ve had little success negotiating with the provincial government, noting that of the six planned negotiation sessions so far, the government cancelled four of them. 

That’s partly why, union officials say, they took to the streets of Westville on Wednesday, rallying outside of Premier Tim Houston’s office. 

There, they heard from union members, as well as two provincial opposition leaders, NDP members Paul Wozney and Rod Wilson. 

“Tim Houston promised to fix health care, but the people who hold the system together are being left behind,” said Wozney, the opposition labour critic, in a statement. “It’s time for this government to get back to the table and deliver the fair deal these workers deserve.”

There are three more negotiation sessions scheduled in November, and the union is hopeful they can reach an agreement. However, Martin says, union reps are preparing their members for the possibility of a provincewide strike.

“Would Premier Houston appreciate if his parents were in a nursing home, knowing that these workers are working short, working loads of overtime in order to care for these residents?” says Martin. “They just feel so disrespected and so ignored.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 23. 2025.