After delaying their strike – in a last-ditch effort to resolve labour issues with their employer – more than one hundred health care workers at a Red Deer senior’s home took to the picket lines Monday.

At about 1 p.m., 130 licensed practical nurses, health care aides and other specialized staff walked off the job at Symphony Senior Living Aspen Ridge.

The job action came nearly a week after the workers – who are under the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees – served strike notice Tuesday.

The employer, Ontario-based Symphony Senior Care, responded with lockout notice.

The workers were slated to go on strike last Friday, but that was delayed when the employer and the union agreed to meet at the bargaining table to try and resolve the issues.

The AUPE said representatives for both sides negotiated through the weekend, but talks fell apart when the employer demanded the right to terminate any employee without cause – a demand that was rejected by the employees in a meeting held Sunday.

"If they feel that someone isn't doing their job, they have the right to fire the person," AUPE President Guy Smith said. "But every worker should have the right to have that decision appealed.

"Otherwise it gives the employer the power to fire someone for any reason they want."

AUPE officials is filing for an emergency hearing with the Alberta Labour Relations Board, the union is accusing the employer of bargaining in bad faith, they said, due to the employer forcing bargaining into an impasse over that demand.

Replacement staff have been brought in to look after the residents during the strike.