FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 14, 2017
SUDBURY – The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has ruled in favour of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) regarding the representation of approximately 800 health-care professionals employed by Health Sciences North.
“We are very pleased with the Labour Board’s decision, which puts to rest once and for all the outstanding issues surrounding the vote,” said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “We are thrilled to represent and welcome the Medical Laboratory Technologists, Respiratory Therapists, Kinesiologists, Occupational Therapists, Medical Radiation Technologists, Physiotherapists, Speech Language Pathologists, X-Ray Technicians and over 50 other classifications of health professionals into ONA.”
ONA represents 1,300 registered nurses (RNs) at HSN. Last year, several groups of health-care professionals – about 190 workers in total – voted to join ONA. The employer and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) then requested a Labour Board vote after three workers from North Bay were transferred to HSN. The vote was won by ONA. Our new Bargaining Unit now includes the 190 ONA members, the previous approximately 500 OPSEU members and approximately 80 non-union employees. They are now part of ONA, the largest health-care union in Ontario.
“We are looking forward to working with all members – new and seasoned – to negotiate a new collective agreement and to address their work-related issues,” said Haslam-Stroud.
ONA is the union representing 64,000 registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, family health teams, community health centres, the community, clinics and industry.
