Local hospital workers were asking for respect and “good faith” in contract negotiations with the Ontario Hospital Association last week.
On April 18, workers at Groves Memorial Community Hospital rallied on Union Street in front of the building as part of the “Together for Respect” campaign.
The hospital was one of 110 across the province participating in the campaign.
“That is the joining of three unions that came together to fight against the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA),” explained Allison Lewis, a registered practical nurse at Groves and chair of Unifor 1106.
The campaign consists of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Unifor.
“It was the unions’ way of challenging and supporting together for respect,” Lewis said.
The unions represent hospital workers including registered practical nurses, housekeeping personnel, certified chefs, dietary aids, pharmacy technicians and maintenance personnel.
“We’ve all been without contracts since March 31 of 2017,” Lewis said. “So we’re over a year without a contract.
“When we have gone to the tables to negotiate our contracts it’s never been in good faith basically.”
While Groves workers remain without a contract, an OHA statement notes tentative collective agreements have been made in central bargaining with the three unions over the weekend of April 21.
“By working together to reach this agreement, CUPE, SEIU, Unifor and the OHA are able to move forward maintaining open and positive dialogue and a productive working relationship that will help hospitals serve patients and communities across Ontario,” the release states.
“The OHA and hospitals across Ontario value the hard work and dedication of all our employees. We greatly depend on our employees to provide safe, high-quality care to patients.”
Lewis said the Northern Group has reached a tentative deal, not the Groves area. She also explained the main negotiating points were wages and the increasing prevalence of violence in the workplace.
“We’ve already been in a wage freeze; we’ve been there, we’ve done that,” she said. “So we’ve done our part and the OHA just continues to try to demand more from us with less.”
Lewis stressed workplace violence is a main concern.
“We don’t seem to have anybody trained to help protect the workers themselves,” she said. “And it’s verbal and physical abuse that our members have to encounter on a daily basis.”
She added that at Groves there is no security so protection can only be obtained by calling 911.
“By then a lot of damage can be done to either another patient or the employees that are left surrounding that patient to try to help calm the situation,” she said.
The picketing rally was the second show of unity between the three unions in a week. On April 11, the hospital workers involved at all 110 hospitals wore “Together for Respect” stickers.
In Fergus, 35 workers or about half the Unifor union workforce at Groves, participated in the rally. Lewis said the community was out to support them as well.
“That’s a really nice thing when you have the community who seems to stand behind you, understand you and those families that are there for a long period of time with their loved ones really do get to see it and really do understand it,” she said.
