Public health nurses and the local health unit entered conciliation discussions on Oct. 27 to try to reach a collective agreement and avert a possible strike.
“They did not get an agreement or a negotiated settlement but they did agree to set more dates … because we believe we can get a collective agreement with the employer, we just need a little more time,” said Vicki McKenna, provincial vice president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) in an interview with the Advertiser on Oct. 31
“They are setting up some of their conciliation dates and we’re remaining positive and we … certainly want to do that rather than taking any other action.”
Registered practical nurses and registered nurses employed by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) have been without a contract since May 1.
The ONA, which represents the 72 public health nurses, has had three days of negotiations with public health and now the two sides are in conciliation.
“As nurses, we expect the employer to come prepared to offer a fair contract to our skilled and knowledgeable [nurses] so they can
continue to deliver excellent services to their community,” stated ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud in a press release on Oct. 26.
“ONA always prefers to reach a negotiated settlement, and we encourage this employer to not force our nurses to strike.”
WDGPH spokesperson Chuck Ferguson would not comment on the negotiations or specific issues involved therein.
“Talks are ongoing and we’re still working towards a positive outcome,” he told the Advertiser on Oct. 31.
Ferguson explained the conciliation process involves both sides sitting down with a conciliator assigned to them by the province’s labour board.
He said the conciliation talks are taking place at the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health office in Orangeville.
McKenna said that the public health nurses are looking at their working conditions in the new agreement.
“They haven’t highlighted anything more than that at this time and I can’t release any other information even if they had,” she said.
McKenna also explained that the negotiations are not about the recommendations recently put forward by an expert panel to the government about how public health should be structured in Ontario moving forward.
“That has really nothing to do, to be honest, with these negotiations,” she said.
Should the conciliation process prove unsuccessful, the minister will likely issue a “no board” report, which is a legal requirement for a strike or lockout.
However, if both sides agree, the matter can still proceed to mediation with a ministry-appointed mediator.
McKenna said the nurses don’t have a set deadline to come to an agreement.
“(However) if they can’t get an agreement their only next step would be the employer would force them out on strike,” she said. “So we hope that doesn’t happen.
Haslam-Stroud stated public health nurses provide a wide range of services to about 285,000 residents in Guelph and Wellington and Dufferin counties, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C testing; treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; immunization clinics; and parental counselling.
“These public health nurses, they just want to do their job and they want to be at work and they want to move on and they really want this collective agreement to get settled,” McKenna said.
“And you know they’re there for the residents of Wellington Dufferin and Guelph, that’s what they do.”
Conciliation is ongoing.
