Healthcare Workers to Rally at Bluewater Health to Demand Completed Pay Equity Plan
RICHMOND HILL, ON, April 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Frontline healthcare workers, retirees, and community members will hold an information picket outside of Bluewater Heath on April 25, 2019 to call on the hospital to fulfill its pay equity commitments.
SEIU Healthcare, the union that represents frontline workers at Bluewater Health, has been trying to negotiate a pay equity plan with Bluewater Health for over a decade. Bluewater must post a plan to meet the requirements of the Pay Equity Act, an important piece of legislation that aims to eliminate systemic gender discrimination in compensation for female dominated work.
"Female frontline healthcare workers at Bluewater have waited too long for justice!" said Sharleen Stewart, President of SEIU Healthcare. "We're fed up and demand that Bluewater Health take the necessary steps to complete the pay equity process."
Negotiations began shortly after Bluewater Health was established in 2003. Most of the pay equity process was completed from 2005-2010, but then the process was interrupted by litigation until 2014. In 2016, the parties met regularly and came close to completing the pay equity plan. Since then, Bluewater Health used stall tactics, cancelled meetings, and even claimed impasse while refusing to negotiate.
A group of retired healthcare workers from Bluewater Health filed an application for Review Services with the Pay Equity Commission. They received a decision from Review Officer Collins Kelly, which confirmed that Bluewater must work with SEIU Healthcare to achieve pay equity by following the process they agreed to in 2006. Initially, the hospital indicated it would resume negotiations, but they have remained unwillingly to take the final steps to complete the plan.
SEIU Healthcare also recently filed an application for Review Services requesting the assistance of a Review Officer from the Pay Equity Commission to support the parties in completing the final steps to achieve pay equity.
Supporters can send a pre-written letter to the CEO of Bluewater Health, Mike Lapaine, to demand that Bluewater Health head back to the table to complete the pay equity plan at https://seiuhealthcare.ca/bwh.
Information picket details:
When: Thursday, April 25, 2019
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Bluewater Health (89 Norman St., Sarnia, ON N7T 6S3)
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SEIU Healthcare represents more than 60,000 healthcare and community service workers across Ontario. The union's members work in hospitals, homecare, nursing and retirement homes, and community services throughout the province. SEIU Healthcare has a strong track record of improving wages, benefits and working conditions for healthcare workers, supporting the training and development needs of its members, and strengthening standards in the management and delivery of patient and client care. www.seiuhealthcare.ca
SOURCE SEIU Healthcare
For media inquiries, contact: Corey Johnson, Head of Strategic Communications, SEIU Healthcare, 416-529-8909, [email protected]
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