TORONTO: Air ambulance dispatchers and staff
at the Infectious Control Centre based in
Toronto have a tentative agreement which, if
ratified Sept 4-5, will avert a Sept. 11
strike.
The 71 full-time
and part-time members of Ontario Public
Service Employees Union Local 545 work for
the new privatized non- profit organization
called ORNGE.
Union members are
responsible for the dispatch of helicopters
to highway accidents, and coordination of
organ retrieval flights, as well as
infectious disease screening (including SARS)
for all inter-hospital patient transfer
services and Critical Care Land Ambulance
transfer in Ontario.
Union members had
voted 95 per cent Aug. 17 in favour of
strike action if their demands for a fair
collective agreement were not met.
This is a first
contract for these workers who were divested
from the Ontario Public Service in 2006 and
began bargaining in June 2007. No details
of the deal have been released to the
public, pending ratification.
“The workers at
ORNGE have achieved a fair wage deal, one
that assures the safety of Ontarians will be
protected,” said OPSEU negotiator Mark
Kotanen.
