THUNDER BAY – Labour peace has been ensured for the next two years between the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and its public health nurses.
The Thunder Bay District Board of Health on Wednesday voted to ratify the agreement with the Ontario Nurses Association members, formally ending the labour dispute that resulted in the 58 nurses walking off the job on Oct. 16.
Janet DeMille, the medical officer of health and Thunder Bay District Health Unit chief executive officer, said the nurses returned to work on Tuesday, one day ahead of the board’s ratification vote.
“That was a really good day. It’s really nice to have all our people back together and resuming the public health programs and services we want to do,” DeMille said.
DeMille said the four-year deal it will run through the end of 2020 and includes annual wage increases along with other additional compensation. The previous contract had expired on Dec. 31, 2016.
While specific terms were not disclosed, health unit director of corporate services Lance Dyll told the board meeting the cost of the settlement will be more than what was originally budgeted.
The tentative agreement had been reached on Nov. 16 after mediated talks, with the union membership ratifying the contract the next day.
During the strike, the nurses claimed to be the lowest paid public health nurses in Ontario. The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions claimed it was the longest nurses’ strike in the province in recent memory.
“Strikes are challenging for everybody involved and it does take some time to recover from that,” DeMille said. “I think having them come back (Tuesday) – and I happily went around to see as many as I could. I think people are just excited to get back to work and I’m excited to see them back at work.”
A number of programs and services had been suspended during the course of the strike.
DeMille said the health unit is working towards a return to normalcy.
“We were maintaining a lot of the essential services that we do when the nurses weren’t here,” DeMille said. “The nurses are actively at work and resuming functioning. I don’t assume it would take too much longer before we’re fully operational again.”
