York Region public health nurses in strike position Feb. 5

ONA using 'inflammatory' language, region spokesperson says

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 25, 2018
Lisa Queen

York Region public health nurses are in a legal strike or walkout position as of Feb. 5, Ontario Nurses' Association president Vicki McKenna said. - Ontario Nurses' Association

York Region and its public health nurses are in “critical” labour negotiations Jan. 25 in advance of a possible Feb. 5 strike or walkout deadline, the president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association said.

“Today is a big day,” ONA president Vicki McKenna said. “Today is really critical.”

While she is optimistic a deal can be reached, she also said drawn-out talks have left union members feeling “insulted, disrespected, disillusioned and devalued” by their employer.

Despite “inflammatory” public statements from the union, York Region continues to place high value on the critical and important work performed daily by public health nurses, regional spokesperson Patrick Casey said.

The region prides itself on its long-standing relationships with its employees and has reached settlements with other unions in 2016 and 2017, Casey said.

In addition to five days of negotiating between the region and public health nurses, there have been two days of conciliation with assistance of the labour board.

Since the two sides were not able to agree on a contract, a mediator began Jan. 25 to try to help them reach a settlement.

The 234 public health nurses have been without a contract since April 1.

They perform several services, such as running vaccination clinics, providing pregnancy counselling and prenatal support, running breastfeeding clinics and providing support for high-risk families, McKenna said.

“Public health (nurses) do so much," she said. "I think that people don’t realize, they really don’t realize the support that they offer and provide in our communities.
“They just want to be at work and they just want to be helping families.”

McKenna would not divulge what the union is asking for in its next contract.

“I can’t go into the specifics of their contract because we don’t negotiate in the public, that’s not how it goes, but they have certain issues in regards to their working conditions," she said. "Those are things that are certainly about their workplace. Most of them are not behind a desk; they are out in the community. It’s about safe visits. There are safety issues they are trying to deal with as well.

“There’s all the monetary stuff. A lot of that, they have discussed. I don’t know that they are completed on that side of it. I do know, any increases they are discussing are very minimal. We all know the environment we are living in. We’re not living under a rock. We know and they know very well what is happening, but they want to be treated with respect.”

The region has participated in several negotiations since last September, with the union filing a “no board” report Jan. 12, which could lead to work disruption as of Feb. 5, Casey said.

“At York Region’s request, both sides agreed to continue negotiations with a bargaining session today,” he said in an email.

“The Regional Municipality of York’s strong preference is to arrive at a settlement that maintains fair and reasonable employment conditions. We are bargaining in good faith and will continue to do so.”