Bette Wilcox says that for years she's had peace of mind knowing her husband, a resident at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre southeast of Halifax, is well cared for and supported at the facility.

But as services for residents have been reduced with 3,600 long-term care workers involved in a strike that's now in its eighth week, she said she returns home from visiting him and cries.

"I go home, I sit, I cry, I worry. It's dark," Wilcox said Tuesday, speaking at a rally for striking long-term care…