Health care workers want the provincial government to scrap Bill 124.
That was the main point of a rally that took place in front of MPP Greg Rickford’s office in Kenora this week.
Judy Bain is a regional spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and says the bill basically ties their hands as they head into bargaining.
“We need our government to stand up and show that he really meant it when he said we were heroes,” states Bain.
“Now is the time to repeal the Bill (124). Let us go to the tables and freely negotiate an agreement. That is the responsible thing to do.”
The bill ties any public sector agreement to a one percent increase, something Bain says is inadequate and driving people from the health care professions.
She adds the bonus announced earlier this month by the province is nice but doesn’t help them in the long term.
“It does nothing for us really. At the end of the day, isn’t something we going to take home every day. It doesn’t go towards our pension. I mean, people just see this as a vote grab. We all know he’s going to run soon and they just feel it’s like the license plates…it’s just something to get a vote.”
