Dear Editor;

Regarding Elyse DeBruyn's reporting on the negotiations between OPSEU 276 and the Grey-Bruce Health Unit. Firstly, thank-you for keeping issues around collective bargaining and labour in the mix of news you provide. Too often this is left to the slow news days or when an issue actually moves from negotiating to some form of labour action such as a strike. Thank-you to Elyse and the editorial staff.

On the issue of the possible strike, the article does not disappoint; at least not when the comments from the employer are read and digested. The employer's comments are the typical "canned' or pre-planned, and too often re-iterated rhetoric that many employers use in media campaigns around labour issues. Thankfully balanced reporting ensured that the representatives of the workers got their point across relatively well, or at least as best as can be expected in a piece of print media.

The OPSEU 276 bargaining team and the membership must be congratulated for seeking fair and equitable compensation, benefits, working conditions, etc. Each time a fair and equitable collective agreement is signed it has some positive effect on workers everywhere; sometimes a very small effect and sometimes much more significant impact.

In the bigger picture the agendas put forward by bargaining units should be robust and look beyond the typical; after all the provincial MPP's in Ontario granted themselves a 25% pay increase with only 8 days of debate, not negotiation. This is now 28% with the recent cost of living adjustment. I would say the MPP's set the standard and lets hope that the same generosity or at least something similar is forthcoming from employers across Ontario when new settlements are considered.

Good luck to OPSEU 276,

In Solidarity,
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce
Labour Council