Together For Respect Rally

Apr 19, 2018 @ 08:21

 

Yesterday Wawa residents saw a rally at the Lady Dunn Health Centre. Health care workers employed by Ontario hospitals rallied across the province asking for respect and fairness in negotiations with the employers’ umbrella group, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).

 

“In an exceptional show of solidarity, unions and workers across Ontario are taking action to present a united front in negotiations to say we are standing together for respect,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director.

 

The province-wide rallies were organized jointly by a historically unprecedented tri-union group (Unifor, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (OCHU/CUPE), and SEIU Healthcare). The three unions created a bargaining coalition on behalf of 75,000 healthcare workers at 160 public hospitals in Ontario, who have been without a contract since March 2017.

 

In Wawa there are about 55 members in a variety of classifications including Environmental Services, Dietary Aide, Medical Devices Reprocessing Tech, Clerk, Physio Clerk, Cook, Diabetes Clerk, Phlebotomist, Personal Support Worker (PSW), Certified Health Records, Registered Practical Nurse (RPN), Mental Health Medical, Dicta Typist, and Activities Co-Ordinator.

 

The desire is for the Ontario Hospital Association to come back to the table for negotiations for a fair contract. Many Ontario hospitals are overcrowded, understaffed; and workplace violence is a daily occurrence.