The Independent Workers’ Union strongly condemns Northside Home Care Services for suspending Sonya Borwick, who is both a member of our union and an elected union representative (known as a shop steward).

The company invited Sonya to a meeting but gave only a vague reason saying they wanted to “raise concerns.” with her.

When Sonya asked for more details, the company refused to provide them.

This morning Sonya attended the meeting and the company ambushed Sonya with a list of pre-prepared allegations and complaints against her and was suspended on the spot.

Most of those complaints centered on two things:

1. A voluntary petition: Sonya had helped circulate a petition among clients who receive home care. The petition was voluntary and asked clients to lend support to the strike by leaving a signature.

2. A dispute involving a former union member: A former union member falsely accused Sonya of being responsible for being confronted by coworkers. Those coworkers had reportedly challenged the former member for leaving the union and for repeatedly crossing a picket line (i.e., working during a lawful strike).

The union believes the company is trying to make an example of Sonya, and we will continue to support her and all our members throughout this process.

We also note that Northside Home Care Services has hired expensive legal and human resources representatives to handle these complaints. In our view, that money would have been much better spent giving healthcare assistants the pay parity they have been demanding.

These tactics from management are not new, who have through the course of the industrial action, refused to engage with our members in a meaningful way and have made intimidating remarks along the way. 

Our union, and homecare staff, remain resolute, intimidation tactics and suppression will not stop our task of achieving pay parity for Northside Homecare Services Staff!

We, the undersigned, did not wish to raise this issue during the busy Christmas period, as we were conscious of the immense effort made by volunteers and staff to support the Society’s work and to raise much-needed donations for those in need. However, having since observed the significant volume of donated items being dumped, we feel it is important to raise our concerns openly and constructively.

We respectfully call on the management of the Society to uphold the principles and values set out in the charter of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, particularly with regard to stewardship and respect for donated goods. The disposal of large quantities of perfectly usable items is deeply concerning to many volunteers and staff who give their time in good faith.

The challenges involved in identifying and processing donated items are not the responsibility of retail or local store managers, many of whom are already working under considerable pressure. Managing high volumes of donations should not result in the dumping of viable goods.

We believe there are more effective, thoughtful, and compassionate ways to distribute donations to those in need, rather than large-scale disposal. As volunteers and staff, we want to see donations handled in a way that reflects the care and generosity with which they were given.

We therefore ask senior management and leadership to work collaboratively with volunteers and staff to explore more creative, sustainable, and practical approaches to distribution, and to reduce and ultimately eliminate the dumping of usable donated items.

Finally, we ask that greater transparency be provided by publishing information on the proportion of donated goods that end up in landfill, so that volunteers, staff, and supporters can better understand the outcomes of their efforts.