CUPE workers ratify tentative agreement with health unit

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Published Oct 04, 2023  •  3 minute read

On the heels of a tentative agreement ratified by 50 ONA nurses on the weekend after a six-week strike, CUPE Local 3314 public health workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health ratified a new tentative labour agreement Tuesday following a 10-day strike. POSTMEDIA

On the heels of a tentative agreement reached by 50 ONA nurses on the weekend after a six-week strike, 70 CUPE Local 3314 public health workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health ratified a new tentative labour agreement Tuesday following a 10-day strike.

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Local CUPE members said they would return to work Wednesday.

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Kim Craig, a public health inspector and president of CUPE Local 3314, said late Tuesday following the members’ ratification vote, “front line workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health voted 81 per cent in favour of ratifying our tentative agreement with the board of health.”

“We look forward to the employer successfully ratifying our new three-year collective agreement tomorrow and expect to return to work on Wednesday. The resolve of my coworkers withdrawing their labour for 10 days – along with the solidarity of our Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) colleagues and the support of our communities’ residents – has resulted in reasonable and necessary wage increases plus some modest improvements to benefits.”

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“My co-workers and I will continue fighting, alongside nurses, to stop the Doug Ford Conservatives’ ongoing public health funding cuts and needless forced mergers.”

The new tentative agreement between CUPE and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health includes a three percent wage increase this year, retroactive to January 1, and 2.5 per cent increases in each of the next two years.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) said in a media release the agreement becomes final once ratified by the HPEPH Board of Health.

“We are very pleased that we have reached an agreement with CUPE,” said Dr. Ethan Toumishey, Medical Officer of Health and CEO.

“Our bargaining team has worked tirelessly to reach an agreement that balances the needs of our unionized staff with needs of the organization, community taxpayers, and most importantly, our clients. We are eager to have our staff resume their important work which protects the health and well-being of our residents.”

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HPEPH thanked the community for its patience and understanding during the service disruption

Regular programs and services will gradually resume over the coming days. An updated service disruption notice will be circulated following ratification of the agreements.

Front line CUPE public health workers serve in a variety of roles at the health unit, including: public health inspectors, Smoke-Free Ontario (SFO) enforcement officer, certified dental assistants, registered dental hygienists, family home visitor, registered dieticians, health promoters, a foundational standards specialist who tracks vital statistics, a communications coordinator, a building maintenance operator, Information technology staff, and program assistants who provide professional clerical support.

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Both ONA nurses and CUPE frontline public health workers provide care and vital public health services for nearly 200,000 residents of the City of Belleville, City of Quinte West, Hastings County, and Prince Edward County.

Fifty nurses employed by Hastings and Prince Edward Public Health returned to work Monday after reaching a tentative agreement on the weekend.

The new collective agreement was ratified Saturday by Local 31 nurses of the Ontario Nurses’ Association but must be ratified by the health unit’s board of health members this week.

“This is a victory for the residents of these communities and for our brave and determined nurses who refused to back down. They showed the HPE board of health that they are strong and united in their demand for respect and fairness,” said ONA provincial president Erin Ariss, RN, in a media release earlier this week.

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“Nurses took to their communities in Belleville, Hastings, Prince Edward, Marmora and Lake, Trenton, and Quinte to talk to residents about their concerns. The public was overwhelmingly sympathetic to our nurses, and we are very grateful for their support.”

The association said the ONA tentative labour agreement includes wage increases of more than “two per cent in each year of a three-year agreement, which the nurses had demanded since the beginning of bargaining.”

While the return of nursing staff will allow gradual resumption of many HPEPH services, several services will not resume fully until an agreement is fully ratified by both sides with unionized staff represented by CUPE, said the health unit.

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