Blood service workers in Ontario deliver 89 per cent strike vote

Union members earlier rejected August tentative agreement

Blood service workers in Ontario deliver 89 per cent strike vote
OPSEU represents more than 850 CBS support workers, including phlebotomists, donor-care assistants, donor-services representatives, drivers, laboratory assistants and clerks. SHUTTERSTOCK

Employees who run blood donor clinics and transport blood and blood products across southern Ontario, gave their union bargaining team a strike mandate on Nov. 2.

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) support workers voted 89 per cent in favour of strike action if it becomes necessary to move negotiations forward. CBS and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) return to the bargaining table Dec. 12.

The strike vote comes after OPSEU members rejected a tentative agreement negotiated in August. Under that agreement, the union had agreed to settle future contract disputes at CBS through interest arbitration, said the union.

"The ballots have been counted and the members have spoken," said Jennifer Johnson, chair of the OPSEU bargaining team. "Listening to what members had to say about the tentative agreement, it is clear that we still have issues to iron out."

OPSEU represents more than 850 CBS support workers, including phlebotomists, donor-care assistants, donor-services representatives, drivers, laboratory assistants and clerks.

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