WATERLOO (Ontario), le 25 août 2025 – Plus de 100 infirmières et infirmiers du Service de santé publique de la région de Waterloo (SPRW), membres de l'Association des infirmières et infirmiers de l'Ontario (AIIO), se rendront demain en conciliation. Ils cherchent à obtenir une nouvelle convention collective équitable auprès de leur employeur, qui souhaite exercer un contrôle unilatéral sur les horaires.
“Many nurses come to work public health to reclaim control over their time and lives. They have young families, take care of elderly parents and deserve work-life balance,” explains Erin Ariss, registered nurse and ONA Provincial President. “The Region of Waterloo Public Health needs to understand that without fair schedules and compensation nurses will leave this sector for work elsewhere.”
The RWPH wants unilateral control over schedules to force employees to work weekends. While nurses can and do work weekends, the employer has failed to demonstrate a need for consistent weekend coverage and is refusing to pay fairly.
“Public health nurses are the first line of defence in our health care,” says Ariss. “During the pandemic, public health nurses worked around the clock despite government and employer mismanagement, and often for low wages, contributing to an exodus of high-skilled nurses.”
RWPH nurses provide preventative and specialized health care to a population of over 670,000 in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, along with the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. They provide a range of services including supports for new parents, children and elderly, lead infectious disease monitoring and response, provide care in homes, underserved communities and to high-risk populations.
Ariss says, “At a time when our communities are still combating the measles outbreak and ahead of the viral infection season, I urge this employer to meet these nurses’ demands. Because without them, there is no public health.”
L'ONA est le syndicat qui représente plus de 68,000 18,000 infirmières autorisées et professionnels de la santé, ainsi que XNUMX XNUMX étudiants en soins infirmiers, qui fournissent des soins dans les hôpitaux, les établissements de soins de longue durée, la santé publique, la communauté, les cliniques et l'industrie.
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