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'All we’re looking for at the moment is for management to agree to some time lines where we can discuss the labour adjustment plan.'
Brockville (20 Jan. 2011) - Frustration is mounting for employees of the Brockville Mental Health Centre (BMHC) as they watch the transfer of services to Brockville General Hospital (BGH) with no guarantee their jobs will remain once the process is complete.
"While the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG) crows about the fabulous job it’s doing and hands out promotion after promotion to senior managers who will earn even more money, the fact is our members are being kept in the dark by an employer who prefers to dictate rather than negotiate the impact its restructuring decisions will have on our members," says Dave Lundy of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE).
"At the very time that Brockville is suffering from high unemployment and dim job prospects, we have a major employer like ROHCG shutting down services and when it’s not it moves well-paying, skilled jobs to Ottawa and other places," Lundy says.
OPSEU's most immediate concern is the potential loss of about 80 clinical and support staff positions at BMHC as a result of the transfer of the Elmgrove acute care mental health unit to BGH.
In fact, the ROHCG now says responsibility for the labour adjustment plan is in the hands of the BGH and its CEO Ray Marshall. This is contrary to what the union had earlier been led to believe.
OPSEU believes a bad situation is being made worse by senior management which, in a year-end memo to all staff, acknowledged a serious "staff morale" problem in Brockville.
"Ray Marshall can do something about this morale problem by rolling up his sleeves and working hard to ensure that not one job is lost through the transfer process," says Lundy.
"All we’re looking for at the moment is for management to agree to some time lines where we can discuss the labour adjustment plan. That would be a good starting point."
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE