BELLEVILLE - Hastings County social services employees have voted over 91 per cent in favour of a strike to back their bargaining demands. 92 per cent of the 200 members turned out for the vote held in Belleville last night.
Martin Sarra, negotiator for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says that this should send a strong message to the employer. “Our members have repeatedly told the negotiating team that they want equity with other Hastings County employees,” Sarra said. “There are huge disparities with benefits, seniority
recognition, wages and paid leaves. We want to negotiate, but to this point, the employer has refused to even discuss these issues. They need to know that the members are not backing down.”
On Tuesday, April 19 the County of Hastings requested a “no board” report from the Ministry of Labour, stating that talks had reached an impasse. This has resulted in a legal strike/lockout date of 12:01 a.m. on May 10, 2004.
Bob Eaton, OPSEU Region 4 Vice President, said that he is impressed with the resolve of the members in Hastings. “The members have the full weight of our union behind them,” Eaton said. “This is a very important local to our union, and the problems they face have gone on way too long. It’s time for this employer to get
serious about bargaining.”
Sue Dafoe, bargaining team chair and president of OPSEU Local 496, said she is pleased with the confidence her members are showing in the negotiating team. “No one wants a strike, but my members are adamant about addressing the outstanding issues,” Dafoe said. “We still hope to reach a settlement, but the ball is now in
the employer’s court.”
Members of Local 496 include case workers, maintenance staff, social housing workers, municipal day care staff and intake screeners that process social assistance requests for all of eastern Ontario. The parties are scheduled to meet on May 6.
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For more information, please contact:
Aimee Axler, Staff Representative (613) 328-7818
Sue Dafoe (613) 848-5025
