Alberta disability workers calling for higher wages in midst of ‘staffing crisis’

Workers paid to support people with disabilities in Alberta say they have not seen a wage increase since 2014, sparking what some organizations are calling a ‘staffing crisis.’

One of those social services struggling the most is the Calgary SCOPE Society which says its employees have received just a seven-cent increase over the past eight years, as the cost of living has gone up by 15 per cent in that time.

“So really trying to keep up with the cost of inflation when people we’re already not paid well has been a real challenge and we’re seeing high turnover rates of about 25 per cent,” said SCOPE CEO, Ryan Geake.

“When that turnover occurs or when people are tired because they’re working two or three jobs to make ends meet, it means we have a harder time meeting the needs of individuals and providing the best possible care.”

Geake adds that his organization has roughly 400 employees and with such high turnover rates, he’s left to replace about 100 people each year.

That doesn’t sit well with those who rely on disability services such as William Degenstien.

The 63-year-old struggles with a learning disability and recently suffered a heart attack in April. He says he wouldn’t be alive today without the support of his social workers over the last decade.

“They make sure I'm healthy and without them I would be lost,” he said.

“SCOPE is my family and there’s always going to be people that need mental help and this is the one field where we need more support workers because the demand is so great. Unfortunately, most of them end up leaving because they can’t make ends meet.”

DWINDLING STAFF NUMBERS

On-call supervisors like Dana Kuperis have been working with SCOPE for 11 years and says she’s never struggled this much in her entire career with staff numbers dwindling more than ever.

“Even when I'm on call, I still have to do frontline work because I can't find anyone to cover our shifts so I’m doing that work on top of my usual job,” she said.

“It’s very hard to find staff to cover those positions and we don’t have the staff for it. It’s very tiring, it’s very hard because now my day is spent in front of a computer going through five different teams that have 30 different people and trying to find someone to cover shifts.”

Kuperis says her experience with staff shortages and a lack of wage increases has now discouraged her own daughter from wanting to pursue a career in social work.

“My daughter just finished university and I asked her if she wanted to come in this field, she said ‘no’ because the money's just not there. She can do other jobs and get paid more.”

Petition to support disability workers

DISABILITY WORKERS PETITION FOR FAIR WAGES

Alberta Disability Awareness In Action (ADAIA) is a collective that represents 15,000 disability workers across the province and has now launched an online petition to garner more support for fair wages.

The change.org page has received more than 5,500 signatures at the time of posting this article.

It calls on the Alberta government to implement a 25 per cent increase to current wages as disability organizations across the province struggle.

ADAIA adds that its workforce is ‘chronically underpaid’ and that many are burning out and struggling to keep services afloat amidst a 30-year peak in inflation.

The Alberta Council of Disability Services received responses from 60 agencies in early March 2022 in a survey aimed at identifying administrative and indirect cost challenges.

A total of 37.3 per cent of CDS organizations say their services are at high risk within the next one to three years, while 30.5 per cent say a moderate risk is expected due to increasing underfunded administration and indirect costs.

Another 30.5 per cent said ‘some risk’ was to be expected, while just 1.7 per cent said there would be no risk to their services.

As for whether these 60 organizations were dealing with a deficit this fiscal year, just under half (47.5 per cent) said they were expected to be in the red.

The number of disability organizations that anticipate a deficit in their budget for next fiscal year is much higher however at 62.1 per cent.

PROVINCE COMMITS TO STRENGTHENING DISABILITY WORKER RETENTION

Jeremy Nixon is less than one month into his new role as Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services and he’s already being pressured to help mitigate a staffing crisis amongst disability workers.

In a statement to CTV News, he says:

“Alberta’s government values the dedication disability services workers show caring for the most vulnerable Albertans. That’s why I’ve met with the lead organizer of the essential but forgotten campaign, Dale Cena to learn his concerns as the parliamentary secretary for this file previously,” the statement read.

“As the new Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, I understand our non-profit sector workers are essential to our disability community. Alberta’s government will continue working with the disability services sector as we provided a grant to the Alberta Council for Disability Services to develop a recruitment and retention strategy. I’m looking forward to reading that report and getting up to speed.”

The grant Nixon is referring to is $200,000 for ACDS that was provided in February 2022 to lead the development of a multi-prong strategy for the Community Disability Services (CDS) sector.