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TIMMINS St Marys Manor residents face an uncertain future as the owner of the private nursing home has issued lay-off notices effective November 4th to all 20 members of the bargaining unit represented by Local 4249 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

Weve been trying to negotiate a first collective agreement with this employer for over three years now, says CUPE National Representative Denis Rg0069mbald. This employer has refused to bargain fairly, threatening to fire everyone at our last meeting in October if they didnt accept a 10 cents, or 1.5% wage increase over three years.

The union has filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board over the firings set to take effect November 4th, just three days before arbitration hearings were set to begin under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act of Ontario (HLDA).

It is appalling that this employer would show such disregard for the residents and the workers at this facility, adds Rg0069mbald. Instead of allowing an independent third party to look at the issues in our contract negotiations, they have fired everyone effective three days before the hearings were set to begin.

We are calling on members of the community to contact local politicians and join our campaign to stop the firings, says Rg0069mbald. The residents of Timmins will not tolerate such a blatantly unfair treatment of workers and total disregard for the care of the residents.

Workers represented by CUPE 4249 offer nursing care, personal assistance, maintenance and kitchen support to 67 residents at the nursing home, earning between $7.50 and $10.00 an hour with no benefits.

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For further information, please contact:
Denis Rg0069mbald, CUPE National Rep. Timmins Area Office
705-264-1269
Robert Lamoureux, CUPE Communications - Ontario Regional Office
416-292-3999