THUNDER BAY – Striking Port Arthur Health Centre workers are adamant they will remain on the picket lines until they feel respected and are treated with dignity by their employer as they seek more job security, guaranteed scheduling and increased wages.
Unifor Local 229 president Kari Jefford, who represents the 65 Port Arthur Health Centre who walked off the job beginning Monday morning, said the majority of the staff members are considered casual employees.
“It’s very precarious work. Only 22 of the 65 workers have benefits and they’re not great benefits. They’re considered permanent staff. Every other worker here is a casual worker – no guarantee of hours, no guaranteed schedule, no benefits, no stability, no job security,” Jefford said.
Jefford said the largest group of workers is at an hourly rate that is narrowly above the increased minimum wage, highlighting one particular instance where an individual has spent more than three decades at the clinic but is making less than what the minimum wage will be if it increases to $15 per hour beginning next year.
“So after 31 years of service they’re making $14.27 an hour,” Jefford said. “A lot of the folks – the women – that work here are either older ladies that have been here for a really long time or they’re young single moms.
Members of the city’s labour community gathered outside the north side clinic on Thursday – the fourth day of the strike – to show support and rally behind the workers, who represent the facility’s medical aides, medical secretaries and billing clerks.
Jefford said the workers remain in high spirits but it has been difficult for them to watch the clinic remain open in their absence.
“It’s pretty hard to stand here on the line and watch scab or replacement workers cross the line and go into the clinic and be working with the doctors there,” Jefford said.
“They’re concerned for the patients’ health. There’s nobody that’s going in there that has been trained on dealing with instruments, cleaning instruments or sterilizing, keeping the vaccines at a specific temperature.”
Unifor director of health Andy Savela said the union “is in it for the long haul” and is optimistic they will have a new collective agreement that the workers will support.
“There’s no reason this clinic has to be operated the way that it is. There’s no reason the wages are so low. The employer has never argued the ability to pay. They have just argued they want to keep costs down so they can make more profit,” Savela said.
“There are lots of hours where they can develop rotations for these people so they know when they’re working and know what their cheque would look like so they can raise their families.”
Jefford made it clear the workers don’t want the labour dispute to affect the patients’ ability to attend appointments and impact having their medical needs met.
“It’s not about stopping or slowing access to patient care. We absolutely support patients in doing that,” Jefford said. “What we don’t support is the doctors in their pure greed and disrespect for these workers. We need to take a stand.”
The health centre has applied to the Ontario Labour Relations Board to hold a forced vote on its final offer. Jefford said that vote is likely two weeks away.
Efforts by local media to obtain comment from the health centre were not successful.
