„We are pleased to have an agreement that recognizes the value of members` work,“ said Tullio DiPonti, Local 2458 Secretary-Treasury. „We appreciate the support we have received from the public during this employment action. Now that we have a resolution, members are looking forward to restoring quality service to patients in the Windsor community. Medical laboratories and medical laboratory technicians, represented by Unifor Local 2458, have ratified a preliminary agreement with Medical Laboratories of Windsor that ends a three-week strike. The union is firm in its determination to negotiate an agreement that meets the needs of the members who work at both Fairfield Park and Manoir Broulliette. „I am very proud of what the bargaining committee has accomplished,“ said Katha Fortier, Unifor Assistant to the National President. „This agreement is a start to address the inequalities between the public and private sectors in Ontario`s health care system.“ WINDSOR — Health professionals, represented by Unifor Local 2458, will step up action by holding a rally in front of Fairfield Park Long-Term Care Centre to demand a fair and equitable collective. Contract negotiations with Fairfield Park and Broulliette Manor opened on 27 October 2020. The union proposed modest amendments to the collective agreement, which were immediately rejected by the employer`s legal representatives. Employer representatives presented the union with more than six pages of concessions including wage cuts, health care, recreation and more hours of work. „Employers` approach to viewing our members as zeros rather than heroes is offensive and disrespectful,“ said Tullio DiPonti, President of Unifor Local 2458. „To think of a time when these health heroes risk their lives to take care of others, their employer turns around and presents a concession laundering list and says that`s what you`re worth. This employer should be ashamed.
Let us go back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair collective agreement, without concessions. On Monday, the union had planned a protest in the parking lot of the long-term care home in south Windsor, but company representatives stopped it. „I negotiated a lot of contracts in my time, but I`ve never seen such a disrespectful employer,“ said Chris Taylor, Unifor National Staff Representative. „The pandemic has forced long-term care professionals across the country to do more with less, and here we have an employer who is asking these COVID heroes to take over all the new protocols and get nothing. Our members will not feel worthless and we will continue to step up our actions until they get the respect and dignity they deserve. Chris Taylor is a Unifor National Representative. Last week, a rally was held in front of Le Manoir Broulliette to ask the employer to return to the bargaining table and withdraw its long list of concessions. The union decided to change the site and organized the protest in front of schlegel Village, east of Windsor, on McHugh Street. Workers voted 81 percent in favor of a new three-year contract that includes wage increases, improved social benefits and more leave.
DiPonti says it received the letter from the company`s vice president of human resources. . . .