Two more long-term care homes have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, adding pressure to ongoing coordinated bargaining between CUPE and the provincial government.

Richmond Villa workers in St. Peter’s voted 98 percent in favour of a strike mandate this week.

The vote follows a unanimous 100-percent mandate from staff at Bay Side Home in Barrington the day before.

Both groups are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and are part of a province-wide coordinated bargaining effort involving more than 50 nursing homes. Workers say wages have not kept pace with the cost of living and that chronic recruitment and retention challenges are contributing to frequent short-staffed shifts.

In their public statements, union representatives said many long-term care workers are earning less than $20 an hour—well below living-wage estimates for Nova Scotia, which range from $24 to $29 an hour.

Bargaining with the Houston government broke down this week.

CUPE says the province offered limited wage increases and did not address the union’s proposals aimed at improving staffing levels and retention. The union is now filing for conciliation.

Long-term care workers across the province have been holding strike votes throughout the month as contract talks continue.