Media Advisory: Windsor-Essex County Public Health Nurses to Hold Information Picket Tonight at Essex County Civic Centre

WINDSOR-ESSEX COUNTY, ON, Feb. 20, 2019 /CNW/ - Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members seeking a new contract with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit are holding an information picket this evening.

The more than 80 Nurse Practitioners, Public Health Nurses and Registered Practical Nurses have been working without a contract since March 31, 2018 and will gather tonight at the Essex County Civic Centre to greet members of County Council.

The nurses are seeking a new contract that values their work and is respectful of the vital services they provide to more than 500,000 residents of Windsor-Essex County. ONA notes that the pay disparity between male-dominated professions (police, firefighters) and the female-dominated nursing profession is enormous and growing, clearly making the dispute a gender-based issue.

ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN, points out that among the services and programs the nurses provide are school vaccination programs and monitoring for, investigating and controlling infectious disease outbreaks.

"With surrounding communities experiencing outbreaks of rubella, measles and sexually transmitted infections, their work is vital to the health of the residents of Windsor-Essex County," she said.

Conciliation talks took place February 1, and mediation is scheduled for February 28.

ONA is the union representing more than 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

What: Information Picket by Windsor-Essex Public Health Nurses
When: 6:15 pm, Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Where: Essex County Civic Centre, 360 Fairview Avenue, Essex

Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; www.Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association