OPSEU Organizes ParaMed Workers

Toronto – The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has won a vote to represent 223 full and part time workers at ParaMed in Renfrew County. The new bargaining unit represents Home Support workers, Registered Nurses and Registered Practical Nurses in the Community Health Care field.

These workers provide care and support for the elderly and the infirmed who live at home and those people who require in-home care after an early discharge from the hospital. Most of the workers are part time with hourly wages ranging from $10.23 for Home Support workers to $18 for nurses.

"The very nature of their job and the size of their service area causes these people to work in isolation from each other for the most part. They needed a collective voice to speak on their behalf at the bargaining table,"said OPSEU organizer Eileen Wesley.

OPSEU will now move toward scheduling contract talks with the employer.

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For further information:

Bill Trbovich 416-448-7400/561-5613/793-0092
Eileen Wesley 416-443-8888 ext. 353

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