Chatham-Kent Public Health Nurses Taking Action to Avoid Strike

CHATHAM, ON, Oct. 13, 2015 /CNW/ - Forty-two Public Health Nurses working for the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit are taking action in their efforts to avoid a strike, leafleting the community and conducting an email campaign to educate the community and garner support.

On October 14, 23 and 24, the Public Health Nurses and Nurse Practitioners will be out in the community to speak to the public about the issues they are facing and the impact on Chatham-Kent residents should the highly educated and skilled nurses be forced out on strike.

The members of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) -- are trying to avoid being forced to strike as they try to negotiate a new contract with their employer. They have been without a contract since the end of December 2013 and remain among the lowest-paid in all of Ontario. You can view a video about the nurses at https://youtu.be/yQ_nwaAdbJ0.

These nurses work to keep their community safe, monitoring for infectious diseases, promoting healthy living, and maintaining wellness of individuals, families and communities. They work in sexual health clinics and schools, providing immunizations, illness prevention programs and in their patients' homes to provide follow-up and home visits for families with newborns.

Conciliation talks were held on September 15, 2015. The ONA members now have an email campaign up and running where residents of Chatham-Kent can show their support (http://www.ona.org/chathamkent).

The first leafleting activity will be outside the all-candidates meeting on October 14 from 6:15 to 7:15 pm at 307 Grand Ave. West, Chatham. 

ONA is the union representing 60,000 front-line registered nurses and allied health professionals as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in Ontario hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, industry and clinics.

Visit us at: www.ona.org; www.Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; www.Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

Ontario Nurses' Association: Melanie Levenson, [phone], ext. 2369, [email protected]; Ruth Featherstone, [phone], ext. 2267, [email protected]