THUNDER BAY -- Wage freezes for health-care workers over the past two years are actually wage cuts, says Unifor members.
Those same union members say it's unacceptable that while those freezes were supposed to be for everyone, they've really only impacted people on the frontline.
Local 229 president Kari Jefford says management has been given significant raises while staff, some having to work two or three part-time jobs to make ends meet, are being laid off.
"That hurts. We were guaranteed at the table last time when we took our zeros everybody took their zeros and that's simply not true," Jefford said.
With more than 17,000 of the 27,000 health-care workers represented by Unifor on expired contracts or contracts set to expire, the union has been rallying at MPP offices across the province including Michael Gravelle's in Thunder Bay Friday.
"We're not getting very far," Jefford said of the provincial negotiations.
"Our members need some money at the table."
Gravelle met with Jefford and Unifor members on Algoma Street saying he'll take the message back to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
"These are challenging times in terms of our fiscal circumstances but there's no provision that's more important to us than health care," Gravelle said.
