Toronto - March 26, 2019 - Eighty-six public health nurses have been on strike for over two weeks, and NDP MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh Percy Hatfield said in the legislature today that the Ford government should send the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit back to the bargaining table to work out a fair deal with them. This will enable the nurses to return to their important work, and be respected for that work.

The nurses, who are represented by the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), have been without a contract since March 31, 2018. The health unit has refused to negotiate with them, and the one per cent raise it offered nurses didn’t come close to matching the cost of living, according to the president of the bargaining unit.

“These hardworking, highly trained nurses provide invaluable public health services to our community - services like school immunization clinics, breastfeeding and sexual health clinics and the Healthy Families Home Visiting Program for new moms,” Hatfield said. “To have many of these nurses struggling to make ends meet is unacceptable. Most disrespectful is that the nurses have been offered a wage significantly below that of their male counterparts in Windsor’s municipal sector.

“Historically, our region’s health unit has been underfunded by the province. It’s time for Health Minister Christine Elliott to pick up the phone and order the health unit to get back to the bargaining table today. Our public health nurses deserve to earn a fair, equal wage.”