THUNDER BAY— A spokesperson for the union representing striking workers at the Port Arthur Health Centre says a provincial mediator is ready to intervene to try to end the labour dispute.
Andy Savela of Unifor said the union is ready to return to the bargaining table, and he hopes the clinic's doctors are ready to do the same.
"We are reaching out to them," he told Tbnewswatch in an interview Tuesday. "I was contacted by a mediator to see if there was a willingness to get back together. She would sit down with the parties and try and see if we could get something worked out. We've agreed to that."
There has been no statement from Port Arthur Health Centre management on this development, but Savela said he believes the mediator plans to contact the clinic to see if there is interest on its part.
Sixty-five workers, all women, walked off the job on April 9. On April 25 they turned down the clinic's last contract offer in a supervised vote requested by management.
Wages and hours of work are the issues that, so far, have blocked a new collective agreement.
Savela said "It's time we got back together to see if we can get something done."
He said morale on the picket line is good, but "nobody likes to be on strike, obviously...Everybody would like to see this thing resolved."
Unifor is providing the workers with strike pay of $1,000 a month and is also paying for their health and welfare benefits.
