BELLEVILLE, ON—The following is a statement from Kim Craig, a public health inspector and the president of CUPE Local 3314:
“This afternoon, frontline workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health voted 81% 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.
“My coworkers and I will continue fighting, alongside nurses, to stop the Doug Ford Conservatives’ ongoing public health funding cuts and needless forced mergers.”
The new collective agreement between CUPE and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health includes a three percent wage increase this year, retroactive to January 1, and 2.5% increases in each of the next two years.
Frontline CUPE Local 3314 public health workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health are: Public health inspectors, a Smoke-Free Ontario (SFO) enforcement officer, Certified dental assistants, Registered dental hygienists, a 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.
These 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.
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Media contact:
Ken Marciniec
CUPE Communications
[email protected]
