FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 5, 2002
OHA should stop talking about layoffs and start bargaining: OPSEU
TORONTO – The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) is talking about layoffs in our hospitals when they should be sitting down with staff to bargain better working conditions, says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).
“Working conditions in our hospitals need to be improved in order to recruit and retain staff. That’s the number one priority. Talk of layoffs is just going to scare health care workers out of the health science professions,” says OPSEU President Leah Casselman. She was referring to OHA president David MacKinnon’s
recent pre-budget submission.
“To rebuild confidence in our hospitals, the OHA has to make an effort to start central bargaining with our hospital professionals,” she said. “They have to sit down with us and do something about improving working conditions for people who choose to make a career in the health sciences.”
Talks were scheduled to begin Jan. 30 but the parties failed to agree on a Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining, the document that sets the rules for central bargaining. The OHA wants to limit the comparisons the parties can make should arbitration be necessary. The current contract expires Mar. 31, 2002.
“Existing staff are already working too many double shifts, and too much overtime, in conditions where their health and safety is compromised. If they cut more it will hurt patient care,” said Aimee Axler, chair of OPSEU’s bargaining team, a microbiology technologist from Kingston.
OPSEU represents about 10,000 professionals in health science professions including X-Ray and Lab Technologists, Social Workers, Physiotherapists, Pharmacists, Psychologists and Respiratory Therapists, in hospitals across Ontario. Hospitals face severe shortages in many of these professions.
“MacKinnon needs to get back to reality and get his team back to the table,” Axler said.
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www.hospitalprofessionals.org
