Striking health unit members to picket Liberal provincial council in Ottawa

June 13, 2008

Striking office and clerical workers at the Grey Bruce Health Unit, frustrated by the lack of talks in a strike, now in its seventh week, are going to Ottawa this weekend to confront the provincial government.

The plan is to picket the governing Ontario Liberal Party’s Provincial Council Saturday.

Members of OPSEU Local 276 want to make their case personally to government members who would have the ability to step in and tell the employer to get back to the table.

The 27 women also want the Minister of Health and Long Term Care, George Smitherman, to do an investigation of the Health Unit’s financial and management practices.

Local 276 members will picket at:

Where:    Westin Ottawa Congress Centre, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa

When:     Saturday, June 14, 2008 – 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Local 276 members (office and clerical unit) have been on strike since May 1 in a dispute over wages. OPSEU represents about 130,000 public employees working in communities across Ontario.

For more information, contact:

Linda Owens, Local 276, 519-794-3675

David Cox, OPSEU Communications 416-788-9197