Local Public Health nurses with the Ontario Nurses Association took their protest outside Belleville City Hall on Monday.
ONA Local 31, representing just over 50 registered nurses, public health nurses and registered practical nurses, called on the mayor and city council to support a fair contract between nurses and the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health unit.
Nurses could go on strike by August 18 if a deal is not reached.
Bargaining unit president Josh Davidson Marcon says a final offer has been sent by the health unit.
“Our members are going to vote. The voting will be opened on Thursday, August 17 at 2 p.m. It will close Friday at 2 p.m. We’ll have results at 4:30 p.m. on the 18th. If the offer is rejected, we’ll be on the picket lines on Monday, August 21,” Davidson Marcon tells Quinte News.
Davidson Marcon says the negotiation committee for the union was not satisfied with the offer.
“If it was an offer that the negotiation committee agreed with, then we would have presented it to our membership. So that’s all I can say,” Davidson Marcon explained.
“We wouldn’t want to sway the membership, but had the negotiating team agreed with the offer presented we would have already presented it to our members.”
He says the main sticking point in negotiations remains wages.
“That’s the only thing that’s left on the table,” Davidson Marcon says.
In a statement to Quinte News, the health unit says the health and well-being of its clients is a top priority and that they will not be speaking to the media at this time as details of negotiations are confidential.
Click here for a list of affected services.
