After a 6-5 vote, caretaking at Huron Lodge Long Term Care facility will be contracted out.
The vote came after over a dozen delegations came before Windsor City Council to implore them not to risk service at the facility and to think about good paying jobs for people in the community.
But Councillor Fred Francis says at the end of the day it has to come down to savings.
"Essentially whoever we have to provide that service has to provide the service as it's legislated by the province and as we dictate through the RFP and the contract, and we have managers in there to make sure everything is being done," says Francis.
However, Councillor Bill Marra fears the lower paying jobs will create more turnover in the facility and decrease the quality of care.
"This adds in a layer of risk, you can argue that the risk perhaps is minimal, but it adds in a layer of risk when you're not the direct operator, when they're not your employees," says Marra.
He also voiced concerns, like many of the delegates, about losing good paying jobs in the community. He says the loss of high paying job adds pressure to social services offered through the city.
"By creating an environment where we farm out a service to lower paying jobs we contribute to the very issues we're trying to fight. That's contradictory," says Marra.
The contract for caretaking will go to the lowest bidder, Aramark Canada, and will save the city around $600,000 in operations costs annually.
No one will be laid off as a result of this decision. However many part-time staff will have their hours drastically reduced as positions are found for them in other parts of the municipality.
"I don't know how they're going to continue to make their payments, I don't know how they are going to continue to survive and how they are going to support their families and themselves," says Mark Vander Voort, president of CUPE Local 543.
The transition plan that will see some employees bumped into other departments in the city and will create positions for some of the part-time staff, will cost the city around $1.9-million initially.