Disgruntled ex-Aramark employees, who were expecting to be rehired to cleaning positions within Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) but didn’t make the cut with the new employer, have been contacting Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons seeking justice.
Simons told Coast Reporter this week that he’s heard from a half-dozen workers upset that Compass Group has not rehired them “as they promised and as VCH said they would.”
Simons also said he’s heard of senior workers being offered considerably less in wages for similar positions with Compass Group.
“Contract flipping at its worst,” he said.
VCH switched to a new housekeeping provider in March, resulting in the loss of about 22 housekeeping jobs at Sunshine Coast health facilities. The new housekeeping provider, Crothall Healthcare, a member of the Compass Group, noted at the time that as many former Aramark employees as possible would be hired back.
Corporate communications manager with Compass Group, Saira Husain, said that 210 housekeeping employees have applied for new positions within the “coast region” of VCH and that 82 per cent of those who applied were offered employment via Compass Group.
Husain said those who didn’t receive job offers were denied for reasons such as not providing references or not meeting “immunization requirements.”
“Unfortunately, some people did not meet the requirements or job fit,” Husain said.
“This isn’t a reflection on these people as individuals, but a reflection of the change in job expectations, new job requirements and new ways we will work together in the future.”
Simons said that immunizations and references weren’t issues for the constituents he spoke with, “so what is it about these workers that Compass has decided that they would choose someone else?”
On the topic of former Aramark employees being offered less to work in similar positions with Compass, Husain said the difference isn’t much.
“The vast majority of applicants [80 per cent] will be hired into the role of housekeeping associate, which has an eight cents per hour wage differential. However, this is more than offset by a lower share of the benefit cost paid by employees,” Husain said.
Simons said he’s skeptical about that figure and noted he’s heard from former VCH housekeeping employees who claim they were offered $2 less an hour by Compass.
The MLA has scheduled meetings to talk with more affected constituents and he plans to follow up with VCH and Compass once he has more information.
“I don’t think that Compass is doing a good enough job to ensure that those people who were laid off are getting work. I don’t think that the reasons they gave show enough effort on their part, especially considering small communities and the job market,” Simons said.
Anna Marie D’Angelo, senior media relations officer with VCH, said the health authority decided to go with the new cleaning provider for a number of reasons, including the company’s customer service approach and its “strong safety culture.”
“Funding is always a consideration in everything we do, but it is not the reason for choosing this contract provider,” D’Angelo said.
