Ontario Hospital Association
200 Front Street West, Suite 2800
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3L1
Tel: (416) 205-1345 Fax: (416) 205-1360
Visit our Web Site: http://www.oha.com
September 30, 2011
Toronto, ON - The following statement was issued today by the Ontario Hospital Association:
“The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) was surprised and disappointed to see a media release issued earlier today by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) about the status of our negotiations, and statements they claim were made by OHA representatives.
The statements attributed to OHA staff by SEIU were not in fact made. The contents of the media release, including various claims made by Ms. Stewart, are completely and utterly untrue, irresponsible, damaging to the relationship between our two organizations, and in bad faith.
With respect to the substantive bargaining issues mentioned in SEIU’s media release, specifically, salaries and benefits, the OHA’s position is wholly informed by the Government of Ontario’s stated policies with respect to wage restraint, and wholly consistent with our approach to negotiations with other hospital unions – processes which all ended with multi-year collective agreements. This makes the SEIU’s media release all the more puzzling, because they are aware of the government’s policies and the OHA’s bargaining mandate, and they were still at the bargaining table when they issued it.
The OHA and Ontario’s hospitals value the work done by the SEIU’s employees, and are committed to reaching a freely-negotiated collective agreement. We ask that the SEIU’s leadership to redirect their efforts toward representing their members appropriately at the bargaining table instead of undermining the collective bargaining process through media statements.”
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