London's 450 community health workers employed by the Community Care Access Centre are on strike.
The CCAC and the Ontario Nurses' Association have failed to work out a new collective agreement, with 3,000 union members voting overwhelmingly in favour of a strike last night.
Registered nurses, social workers and physiotherapists hit the picket line at 7am this morning.
ONA members employed by CCAC have been without a contract since March 31 of 2014. There are a total of nine CCACs across the province affected by the strike.
"We just were asking to be treated like the hospital nurses that get equal pay raises. We weren't pushing for a large wage increase, we weren't pushing for a lot of increases in benefits. We just wanted to be treated like the other nurses, therapists, social workers that work for us that were also ONA members and got pay raises," says Bargaining Unit President for the Southwest CCAC Caroline McWhinney. "What we tabled was give us something similar to what the hospital nurses got....That's not what came to the table."
CCAC employees are responsible for homecare and the the transition from hospital to home following surgery or illness.
The organization says it will ensure patients who are receiving care at home, schools, clinics or retirement homes will still be seen.
“All CCACs are focused on delivering on our commitments to patients and families during this challenging time” says provincial CCAC spokesperson Megan Allen-Lamb, CEO of North Simcoe Muskoka CCAC. “We are ready to return to the bargaining table at any time to negotiate a settlement and are committed to negotiating agreements that are fair, responsible and reflect our commitment to providing high-quality service with the prudent use of public funds.”
The bargaining unit in Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant has reached a new agreement. There are another four CCACs across the province that do not have workers represented by ONA.
