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OLRB ruling won’t reduce hospital staff shortages, doesn’t create a workable process: OPSEU

TORONTO - An order today from the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) will not reduce hospital staff shortages and doesn’t create a forum to resolve the current labour dispute at 40 Ontario hospitals, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says.

“We have been campaigning for a year to keep and attract professional staff in our hospitals,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “This has always been the main issue, and it remains the main issue. The OLRB order is interesting, but it doesn’t do anything to help health care.”

OPSEU is waiting to hear back from the Ontario Hospital Association about a proposal the union made on Monday. The union called on the OHA to agree to a single unrestricted arbitration process that would cover all 40 hospitals involved in central bargaining. The OHA already uses this approach in negotiations with the Ontario Nurses Association.

The OHA employer bargaining team is meeting in Toronto tonight.

“We’ve offered a co-operative solution to the current dispute,” Casselman said. “We are ready to talk to the OHA at any time to get this thing settled and help hospital professionals do their work,” Casselman said.

As called for in the Board order, the union has posted the order on its web site at http://www.opseu.org/bps/health/hospital/olrbdecision.htm .

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For further information:

David Cox: 416-443-8888 (ext 314) or cell 416-788-9197 or dcox@opseu.org  
Randy Robinson: 416-448-7441 or cell 416-788-9134 or rrobinson@opseu.org
Katie FitzRandolph: 416-448-7440 or cell 416-788-9057 or kfitzrandolph@opseu.org