Choices for Youth, workers return to bargaining table
Workers began strike action Tuesday
Unionized workers at the Lilly supportive housing centre, operated by Choices for Youth, are back at the bargaining table Thursday morning in search of a new collective bargaining agreement.
In an email sent Thursday afternoon, communications manager Katie Keats said Choices for Youth met with the bargaining unit and a conciliator Wednesday, and received a proposal from the union later that day. She said they're reviewing the proposal.
Nine of the Lilly's employees went on strike Tuesday after voting unanimously in favour of strike action. The group, represented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, is working to negotiate its first collective agreement since joining the union two years ago.
In a media release issued by Choices For Youth on Thursday, the group said they hope to end the strike as soon as possible.
"Our focus is on continuing discussions with NAPE until we reach an agreement, while ensuring continued care for young people supported by Choices for Youth," the release said.
Dozens of supporters stood outside the Choices for Youth centre in downtown St. John's on Thursday afternoon in a solidarity rally organized by NAPE. Union president Jerry Earle said they won't rest until a tentative agreement is signed.
"These workers do not want to be here. They don't want to be on the picket line, they would rather be with the youth that's asking for them day after day after day," Earle told spectators.
"It's very easy. Collective bargaining 101. You sit on the other side of the table, you have the tough conversations, you work out the issues, and you respect your workers."
The crowd also heard from Jessica Wall, who lived in the Lilly for five years. She emphasized the importance of the staff in the lives of people who live in the centre.
"They're still the first people I call when I'm struggling, the first people I call when I'm doing well, and the first people I call when I have big news," Wall said.
"The Lilly is home to me and to many of my friends, and it will always be our home.… It's not the building that is home. It's not the paint on the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the doors, the windows, the furniture that makes the Lilly home for us. It's the staff. They are home to us. They are home to me. Without the current staff of the Lilly and the staff that have worked at the Lilly, there would be no home."