THUNDER BAY -- The four-month strike at the Port Arthur Health Centre is officially over.
The board of physicians on Wednesday announced they had ratified the tentative agreement reached with the union representing the striking workers, one day after the employees voted to go back to work.
Following the ratification vote on Tuesday, and the board of physicians signing off on the new collective new agreement, operations at the clinic will resume on August 24.
The new agreement spans three years and includes a number of improvements for Unifor workers.
Start wage for former minimum wage workers will increase to at least $14.56 to $14.70 per hour.
The agreement also includes a range of wage increases across all classifications, a new weekend premium, new language for seniority list postings and float days, an increase of labour management meetings to four times per year, and a commitment to discuss creating flexible part-time rotations, vision care benefits, uniform/shoe allowance, and reimbursement for the cost of medical absence notes.
The appointment secretaries, billing clerks, medical aides and administrative staff walked off the job on April 8, starting a prolonged dispute that lasted more than 128 days.
The labour strife escalated last week when a fence was erected outside the main entrance to the clinic, fulfilling a promise made by the union to shut down the clinic. The electrical box to the building was then allegedly tampered with two days later, extending the closure to a third day.
Both sides resumed bargaining this week for the first time since the strike began, requiring only day to come to terms on an in-principle agreement.
Unifor Assistant to the National President said via press release, "with this agreement, the workers know their work is valued and respected for what it is worth.”
