Members of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) and their supporters held a demonstration in Owen Sound Thursday.
Laura Hanninen from the Local 4 ONA office says around 60 people took part in the demonstration, at the corner of 10th St East and 16th Ave East.
“We’re here on behalf of ONA and all nurses in Ontario. We’re looking for public awareness about better staffing, safer staffing, better care for all Ontario people,” said Hanninen.
She added, “We have people here from all of the different disciplines in healthcare. But we also have people from all of the other unions in Ontario here helping and supporting us today.”
Demonstrations in support of the ONA were planned around Ontario Thursday. Their website says, “These pickets, held outside hospitals and Conservative MPPs’ offices, will show our unified voice and commitment to achieving a fair deal for Ontario’s nurses.”
“We’re looking for better staffing ratios,” said Hanninen, adding, “Basically we’re looking for more nurses at the bedside doing nursing care.”
A bargaining leaflet from the ONA says Ontario’s 60,000 front-line hospital nurses and health-care professionals are negotiating a new contract with the Ontario Hospital Association.
Hanninen says, “The Province needs us, and they need to support us so we can help them in their time of need. It’s really about getting safer care for everybody.”