THUNDER BAY -- The 128-day strike at the Port Arthur Health Centre is one step closer to being resolved.
The striking workers at the north side clinic late Tuesday night voted to ratify a tentative agreement that had been reached with the health centre's management earlier in the day.
The proposed settlement still needs to be approved by the health centre's board of physicians to be finalized. Both sides also must come to terms on a return to work protocol before the workers can get back on the job.
"It was overwhelming support from the membership to accept the tentative agreement that our committee worked very, very hard on to secure with the employer," said Unifor Local 229 president Kari Jefford after the results of the vote were counted.
"I think the women are exhausted. I think it's been a very hard fight but they're relieved. They're very excited and they're looking forward to returning to work and getting back to serving the patients in the community of Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. They're very happy to do that."
The 65 appointment secretaries, medical aides, billing clerks and administrative staff took to the picket lines on April 8 after both sides were unable to come to an agreement after the previous contract expired at the end of last year.
The four-month labour dispute 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.
"We never want to take strike action or work action. We always want to come to the bargaining table in a respectful manner and find the best middle ground for both parties and we do that 99.9 per cent of the time," Jefford said. "Unfortunately sometimes it comes to this, where we can't come to an agreement and we need to stand up and fight and that's what we did. We fought tooth and nail and we've come to some middle ground with the employer."
The details of the deal are not being disclosed, pending finalization of the agreement.
The prevalence of casual employment and lack of full-time positions, along with low wages, were cited throughout the strike as the biggest points of contention for the union.
"We had a very clear mandate from our membership back in December and again throughout the strike and prior to over many, many meetings that we had with our members," Jefford said.
"We held to that bargaining mandate and we came out with a recommendation from the bargaining committee to accept the tentative offer. I think people are very happy with where the bargaining committee was able to get to with the employer and they're looking forward to returning to work as soon as possible."
