Hospital Members Ratify a New Deal
Yukon Hospital Corp. workers had the opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement recently achieved between the Union and the employer. The ratification by the roughly 250 members of YEU/PSAC Local Y025 vote took place Monday, March 4th, only weeks after they returned an overwhelming mandate in favour of strike action if needed.
Unsafe workload caused by chronic understaffing was identified by workers as the most important bargaining issue, and the one they were willing to strike to resolve. The new contract states “the Employer will ensure an employee’s workload is not unsafe”. New language also allows for greater recourse by the membership should unsafe scheduling continue to plague the Hospital Corporation’s facilities in Whitehorse, Dawson, and Watson Lake.
This is a two year contract covering the period between September 1 2017, and August 31 2019. Economic increases of 2% in year one and 1.5% in year two will be retroactive to the contract’s effective date.
YEU Vice President Paul Johnston stated “it’s been a long and challenging process, but important safety provisions have been added to the contract. We hope to see improvement in member safety in this contract, and will continue working to improve conditions for members of this Local.”
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