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Hospital workers rally to freely negotiate wages, improve mental health benefits

This is as the province deals with an alarming decline in the number of hospital staff

Hospital workers from Cambridge Memorial Hospital rallied Wednesday afternoon to push back against wage cuts and wage concessions.

President of SEIU Healthcare, Sharleen Stewart, said hospital workers want the provincial government to repeal Bill 124.

"Allow them to freely negotiate living wage increases and also some improved benefits such as mental health -- because you can imagine so many of them are physically and mentally burned out after carrying the pandemic on their backs."

She said hospital workers are just running on fumes right now.

"Staff shortages are higher than we have ever seen in my lifetime and as the president of this sector. They are being asked to continue to work extended hours. Many of them have an application and many of them admittedly report that they are suffering from PTSD."

She noted there has been an alarming decline in the number of hospital staff.

"Particularly in the regulated professionals' sectors, we have registered practical nurses saying they are done. Once this pandemic is over, they are going to retire early or they are going to find other employment. That's going to affect people's ability to get surgeries done, to get those things that were put on hold during the pandemic rescheduled."

According to Stewart, Bill 124 restricts hospital workers from getting a wage increase less than a third of the rate of inflation.

Also, she said Bill 124 is also impacting hospital workers' ability to negotiate much-needed increases to mental health supports like psychotherapy and post-traumatic stress counselling.

The protest took place outside of Cambridge Memorial Hospital from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.