Harrow Health Centre Nurses May be Forced on Strike: Nurse Practitioners, Registered Practical Nurses Seeking First Collective Agreement
HARROW, ON, Jan. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Five Nurse Practitioners and three Registered Practical Nurses providing patient care at Harrow Health Centre may be forced on strike on January 27 as they continue to seek a first collective agreement.
The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members provide a wide array of nursing care for their patients. The Nurse Practitioners (NPs) provide primary health care to a large number of patients, as well as at a satellite clinic where they are responsible for providing primary care in a walk-in setting.
The Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) work with NPs and physicians in the clinic, providing nursing care.
ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, says that these nurses are providing an invaluable service and the nurses know patients will suffer should they be forced on strike.
"I remain optimistic that this employer will return to the negotiating table in the next couple of days and reasonably negotiate with our dedicated and highly skilled nurses," she said. "Our NPs provide invaluable primary care to those who do not have a family physician, saving the health-care system a great deal of money. Our RPNs are also invaluable to their patients, and specialize in various areas including foot care, smoking cessation and vein puncture. Harrow is the primary care centre for the community of Harrow and McGregor. Without these nurses, patients would lack valuable health-care services."
The ONA members are in negotiations today and tomorrow and have a strike deadline of 12:01 am on January 27. Haslam-Stroud urges the employer to get serious about negotiating a first collective agreement with Harrow Health Centre nurses.
ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.
SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association
Ontario Nurses' Association, Sheree Bond, (416) 964-8833, ext. 2430; cell: (416) 986-8240; [email protected]; Melanie Levenson, (416) 964-8833, ext. 2369; [email protected]; Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; Twitter.com/OntarioNurses
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