Retirement village residents in New Zealand feel unsafe as care workers at Arvida-run facilities face reduced hours and increased responsibilities.
The changes were only announced by workers’ unions, and residents of Wellington’s retirement complex Village at the Park were only alerted to the plan when they were informed.
Arvida aimed to reduce the hours by 412 a week at the complex, which offered housing ranging from independent living to hospital and dementia care.
The news shocked Resident Jiff Stewart, who discovered that cutbacks occurred in at least 30 other retirement villages nationwide.
Many residents felt betrayed by the cuts after choosing Village at the Park due to its well-staffed hospital and dementia care.
Residents took their concerns to management, organized a picket and petition, and involved their local MP.
The protest forced the company to back off some nursing cuts in the dementia unit, but 370 hours, including the unit’s full-time activity co-ordinator, will still be cut.
Care workers’ jobs were being changed to take on the activity role, but E tū union, which represented care workers.
Organizer Rochelle Hill said Arvida’s idea of delivering activity support on demand seemed like it needed to be more plausible given their reduced hours.
Arvida spokesperson Aleshia Wansbrough said the change to care teams would improve the quality and safety of services.
This will return the community to slightly above pre-Covid care staffing levels.
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