/R E P E A T -- Media Advisory - Hundreds of Striking ONA CCAC Health Professionals to Hold Vigil and Rally in Toronto Thursday/

TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2015 /CNW/ - Hundreds of striking Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members who work as health professionals in Ontario's Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) will gather in front of the Ministry of Labour in Toronto Thursday morning for a vigil and then a rally.

The care coordinators and health professionals will hold a vigil in front of the Ministry of Labour building beginning at 9:30 am. ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, will speak to the group prior to meeting with the Ministry of Labour and CCAC employer representatives at 10 am.

The ONA members will be joined by supporters as the vigil becomes a rally at 11:30 am and continues until approximately 1:30 pm. Expected to speak at the rally are: Linda Silas, RN, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Unions; Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union; Scott Travers, President of the Society of Energy Professionals; Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition.

The health professionals have been on strike since January 30. ONA members are seeking a 1.4-per-cent wage increase in a new collective agreement; in their previous three-year contract, which expired March 31, 2014, the ONA members had a two-year wage freeze. Their employers are seeking another wage freeze. By contrast, 57,000 other ONA members working in nursing homes, hospitals, long-term care and public health have received wage increases of 1.4 per cent or higher.

ONA is the union representing 60,000 nurse practitioners, 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.           

Who:	ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, Striking Ontario CCAC Health Professionals and Supporters
What:	CCAC Workers Hold Vigil and Rally
Where:	Ministry of Labour, 400 University Avenue, Toronto
When:	Vigil from 9:30 am to 11:30 am; Rally from 11:30 to 1:30 pm, Thursday, February 12, 2015

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

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]