Rally puts wind back in laundry worker's sail

CUPE Ontario President, Sid Ryan joined Laundry workers and hundreds of their supporters outside of Nipissing MPP Monique Smith’s Main Street office for a rally to "keep jobs local" at the Nipissing Area Joint Hospitals Laundry.

“They would like you to believe it’s a fait accompli but I don’t believe it is at all. I’ve always known from day one this fight would come down to a battle between the health care workers and Monique Smith,” says Ryan of the looming laundry closure.

Ryan credits Mayor Victor Fedeli for stepping up and fighting for the laundry, and says Smith has the power to do something about the situation before it’s too late. He says she is in a position to do the right thing and preserve local jobs in North Bay, and intends on making the issue an election issue for the Liberal incumbent.

“She’s pretending that it’s a local hospital board decision, she’s got nothing to do with it, that’s hogwash this government’s got everything to do with it. They’re forcing hospitals into this type of situation.”

“Monique can pretend all she likes that this is a decision made by a hospital board no it’s not, it’s a decision that was made at Queen’s Park and we want her to pay the price ... first off either change her mind or if not pay the price ... she’ll lose her job over this.”

When asked if it would have been more appropriate to lobby the hospital or the LHIN offices Ryan said Smith would love the group to protest at the hospital or the LHIN offices, but contends the decision still falls at the feet of the MPP.

“Monique Smith has known for a month at least we’re going to be here today she took the cowardly way out ... she can’t even pretend that Queen’s Park is sitting cause they are not. She’s not at Queen’s Park, so she’s in this community somewhere she just doesn’t want to face her constituents that’s the problem. That’s the reason this is the place the decision was made by a Liberal whose job it is to protect jobs in this community she didn’t do it,” he states.

“So therefore she should be held to account and that’s what this is about, it’s about participatory democracy, people have the right to come out and demonstrate and voice their opinions, she has an obligation to sit and listen to those constituents and instead she took the cowardly way out and closed her office and took off somewhere.”

Smith has maintained that she cannot get directly involved with a decision made by an independent board decisions.

Audrey Dwinnell, President, CUPE 4384 says all week she was feeling like the laundry decision was a done deal, but having the rally has put wind back in her sail and once again feels there is hope to keep the laundry in the Bay.