Chanting slogans such as “Need a doctor? Support the workers,” and “Fair deal now,” about 50 members of OPSEU Local 677 marched from the entrance of Laurentian University to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) building Aug. 23.

About 150 clerical, administrative and technical workers at NOSM’s campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay have been on strike against the educational institution since Aug. 16.

Among those at the rally was OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas. The union leader was due to fly to Thunder Bay later Aug. 23 to attend a similar event in support of the strikers in that city.

“I’ll come back (to visit the strikers) as many times as I have to,” he said. “Hopefully I won’t have to come back, and we’ll get a deal.”

There’s always a reason why workers unionize. It’s rarely about money. It’s almost always about respect.

Warren (Smokey) Thomas,
OPSEU president

He said the strikers, who receive $150 a week in strike pay, are being supported by OPSEU’s $60-million strike fund during the labour dispute.

Thomas said NOSM management must have wanted a strike, because “they kept tabling a package that no self-respecting union would put to their members for ratification, and the members would certainly not ratify.”

The NOSM workers, who unionized about a year and a half ago, have been trying to bargain their first collective agreement with the medical school since last year.

The workers voted 97 per cent in favour of giving OPSEU a strike mandate at membership meetings July 29 and Aug. 3. Mediated talks between the two parties began Aug. 11 in Thunder Bay, but ended early Aug. 16 without a settlement.

“There’s always a reason why workers unionize,” Thomas said.

“It’s rarely about money. It’s almost always about respect. So the employer gets a union when they don’t want one. So they go and hire a lawyer (to negotiate). They shouldn’t let lawyers be negotiators, because there’s no real incentive to settle. It’s called billable hours.

“I think what they’re trying to do here is break the union, and break the workers. I’ve seen that so many times, and it backfires every time. I don’t know why bosses haven’t figured that out yet.”

A registered practical nurse by trade, Thomas said he’s not surprised by the actions of the medical school’s management team.

“I’ve met a lot of doctors in my time,” he said. “It’s been my experience that some of them think that whatever higher power we believe in actually takes orders from them, rather than the other way around.”

Thomas said NOSM management has likely been influenced by a “wage restraint” policy the province is trying to implement among public sector unions.

He said the province wants public sector unions to voluntarily agree to forego wage increases for two years. But the strategy should not apply to universities because they receive some of their funding from tuition fees, Thomas said.
In a press release put out Aug. 23, NOSM said it is impacted by the wage restraint policy.

“With regard to bargaining unit employees, the government’s policy statement lays out a clear expectation that ‘new collective agreements will be of at least two years duration and provide no net increase in compensation for at least two years,’” the press release stated.

“The fiscal plan provides no funding to NOSM for incremental compensation increases for new collective agreements. This is particularly challenging for NOSM as it manages a structural deficit.”

The press release also said OPSEU has made public statements indicating it would “be prepared to accept status quo benefits and wages; however, these statements are inconsistent with what the (union) has proposed at the bargaining table.”

Tyler England, chair of OPSEU Local 677’s bargaining team, said NOSM is “attempting to misquote” the union. 
 

“Any statements that were given said that yes, we would talk about status quo for benefits, but definitely not for wages,” he said.

“I mean, if status quo is the fact that we’ve always got three per cent increases every year, we would agree to that interpretation of it.”

England said there’s no signs that the two parties are going back to the table any time soon.

“When we left the table early last week, we told the employer that we’re more than willing to negotiate,” he said.

“They just had to bring us back to the table with a proposal that shows they are bargaining. That is yet to occur.

(NOSM dean Dr. Roger Strasser) is constantly telling the media that he is getting back to the table.

“There’s even been reports that they’re trying to contact us. We’ve heard absolutely nothing from the employer or the mediator at this point.”

England said it was “fantastic” to have Thomas at the rally.

“It really provides an extra level of energy to the picketers,” he said. “It really brings us together as a group and shows us that we’ll remain strong on the line and continue to fight for a fair agreement.”