Media Advisory - Ottawa Nurses to Rally in Nepean Today, Call on MPP Jeremy Roberts to Repeal Bill 124 and Bill 195

NEPEAN, ON, July 22, 2020 /CNW/ - Front-line registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses and health-care professionals will rally at Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts' constituency office today to call for the provincial government to repeal Bill 124 and Bill 195.

The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members say Bill 124, passed by the Ford government, discriminates against female-dominated professions, interferes with the right to freely collectively bargain, and overrides the rights of nurses.

Because of Bill 124, an arbitrator wrote in his decision for hospital-sector nurses and health-care professionals that his hands were tied by the bill when it came to determining monetary issues for these front-line workers. Bill 124 limits wage increases to a maximum increase of one per cent in total compensation each year for three years. Front-line nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic have not seen a wage increase that equalled the cost of living in more than a decade. Male-dominated professions, such as firefighters, were specifically exempted from the legislation.

Bill 195, passed yesterday, gives the government broad rights to override the collective agreements of workers even though the state of emergency will be declared over. This could result in nurses and health-care workers seeing their vacations cancelled, redeployment to other areas or providers with little warning, and a total disruption of any work-life balance for those who particularly need it.

ONA is the union representing more than 68,000 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: Protest by nurses and health-care professionals.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 22 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Constituency Office of MPP Jeremy Roberts, 1580 Merrivale Road, Ottawa, ON

www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; Twitter.com/OntarioNurses; instagram.com/ontario.nurses

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association