More than 120 residents of Grey and Bruce Counties
packed the Chatsworth Room at Owen Sound's Days Inn Feb. 24 to
demand answers about the way the Grey Bruce Health Unit has spent
public dollars.
Citizen questions revolved around cuts in service,
and the recent layoff of front-line staff, both OPSEU office and
clerical workers and Ontario Nurses' Association members.
The GBHU recently moved into a sparkling new
waterfront building in Owen Sound, at a cost of up to $23-million,
after closing offices in a myriad of Grey and Bruce communities over
the past decade. This was followed by layoffs of program assistants
and nurses, and more program cuts.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was in Owen
Sound to attend the meeting but fell ill. OPSEU was represented by
Owen Sound staff representative Ted Loughead, and campaigns officer
Rick Janson. Along with them were panelists Dave Trumble from the
Grey Bruce Labour Council, and ONA vice-president Vicki McKenna.
Sister McKenna and Brother Loughead called on Health
Minister David Caplan to launch an investigation of the Health Unit.
McKenna said this was the first such call by her union in the 35
years of its existence.
Brother Trumble lamented the treatment of the
front-line workers, specifically those from OPSEU Local 276, who
spent the summer of 2008 on strike, fighting for a fair contract.
Brother Janson reminded the audience about the cuts occurring across
health care, and said the local hospitals could be next.
Citizens from as far away as Kincardine and West
Grey, signed petitions and received detailed information about the
management practices. Loughead called on the assembled group to
pressure both local and provincial politicians to act.
On CFOS radio in Owen Sound earlier in the day,
President Thomas called on the unit to be accountable to the
citizens it serves.
Representatives from the GBHU and Board of Health,
and local politicians of all levels, were all conspicuously absent
despite wide publicity for the meeting.
The GBHU has been under intense scrutiny from
citizens, unions and media for almost a year, with the completion of
the new building and the disintegration of labour relations and
morale at the unit.
