Hospital professionals from more than 40 Ontario hospitals began bargaining this week towards improving job security, wages, workload, and prevention of workplace violence.
Following recent settlements with Ontario’s doctors and nurses, representatives of more than 7,500 OPSEU health care professionals are at a central table to renew collective agreements that expire March 31, 2009.
These professionals include more than 200 occupations, including medical lab technologists, physiotherapists, ECG technicians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, social workers, respiratory therapists, laboratory assistants, medical records technicians, MRI technologists, ultrasound technologists, dietitians and others.
“Given the need to recruit and retain these skilled workers, it is in the best interests of the Ontario Hospital Association to work with us on addressing these issues,” says Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU President. " Ontario hospitals compete nationally for these professionals. It would simply not be prudent to stall on improvements. Given these shortages, it is foolhardy to contemplate layoffs. "