OWEN SOUND – As of this weekend, members of OPSEU Local 276, office and clerical staff at the Grey Bruce Health Unit, will have been out on strike for one month.

Any strike that goes on for more than a few weeks becomes a financial hardship for the members on the picket line. The members of Local 276 are asking you to keep up the strong support for them in their fight for fairness and justice.

At a time when the GBHU has just spent $20 million for a sparkling new office building on the Owen Sound waterfront, this same organization says it can’t afford a few thousand dollars to give its staff a fair wage and fair benefits.

In relation to other Public Health Units, the clerical wages at the GBHU are seriously sub-standard. Municipal wage comparisons indicate that GBHU rates are between 11 and 35 per cent below existing rates for similar work in the area.

How can you help? Three ways:

1) Your financial support. These 27 individuals and families will have gone almost a month without their regular paycheques. Please consider a donation to the Local 276 Strike Fund at OPSEU Local 276 Headquarters, 80 9th St E, Owen Sound, ON, N4K 1N4. If you have already donated, thank you! Please contact opseulocal276@bellnet.ca  for more information.

2) Your phone calls and faxes are having an effect. Please continue to call the health unit (numbers provided below) to voice your support for the aims of this bargaining team. Call to urge the Grey Bruce Health Unit to make a fair offer. The numbers are:

(519) 376-9420 /(519) 376-0605 - fax /(800) 263-3456 - toll free

3) Lend your support. Join the picket line. It’s in downtown Owen Sound, right by the Tim Horton’s (9th Street West at the river).

Thank you for your support in this struggle for fairness.

In solidarity,

Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President, Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Jay Jackson, Regional Vice President, OPSEU Region 2