Employees with the Canadian Hearing Society are on strike this morning. North Bay has an office on King St.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees says management rejected all of the union's proposals. It employes 227 employees province-wide and five in North Bay.
CUPE says the two sides met over the weekend with a mediator, but failed to reach a deal.
CHS North Bay has been serving people living in North Bay and the districts of Parry Sound, Nipissing and Timiskaming since 1988.
CHS offers counselling services, general support services, home assessments, communication devices, Deafblind Services, sign language classes and employment services according to its website.
"Our dedicated five-member team strives to meet the individual needs of our consumers and provides home assessments, needs assessments and strategies to cope with hearing loss upon request," it says.
CHS says its goal is to achieve a collective agreement that is sustainable and ensures a financially responsible and accountable organization.
"We are disappointed that the union has chosen to strike and we will continue to work to get them back to the bargaining table," says Gary Malkowski, Vice-President at CHS and Executive Labour Relations Team member. "The offer we presented would allow the Canadian Hearing Society to continue providing the professional services and programs that benefit Deaf and hard of hearing Canadians. As always, the people we serve are at the heart of all of our decisions that impact operations."
A familiar theme has emerged...modernization of the paid sick day benefit.
Management says it has offered:
- a generous buyout of unused sick days which employees have banked for payout upon retirement to reduce the significant financial and operational impact of such a liability (This is consistent with the removal of similar antiquated and costly practices from collective agreements in many sectors across the province).
- brings the number of annual paid sick days per employee to industry-appropriate levels.
- introduces an industry standard 100% employer-paid short-term disability program that would provide a support system to bridge the gap between employees' paid sick days and the long-term disability program.
A number of offices remain open. The Sudbury, Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor, London and Peel (Mississauga) offices will be run by management staff.
There are 24 Canadian Hearing Society offices across Ontario.
