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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 8, 2008 - 5 Employees complain policy infringes their human rights Continued from page1 history? Why do I have to go to a doctor and sign a release giving management rights to my medical information?" she said. "It's not happening and they're saying that if we don't do it they're not going to pay us." Pat McCoy, the Vice President of Local 249, echoed these sentiments. "The sick plan they are asking us to sign will give them rights to all of our medical history, not just when I'm sick on one occasion," he said. "It will give them rights to my medical history from two or three years ago and there's no way that can be allowed." Walker noted that the collective agreement settled by both sides requires employees to present a doctor's note after two days of being off sick, as well as alert their employer to any hospitalization and to the prognosis for recovery. "We don't have a problem with any of that, but nowhere in there does it say that they're entitled to make me sign a release so they can call my doctor and get my information," she said. Central West's Executive Director James Duncan has a different view on the matter. "Our position is that our collective agreement provides good benefits and any efforts we're making are to ensure that those benefits are there when people need them now and in going forward. We believe that the policies and procedures that we have comply with legislation and comply reasonably well with the collective agreement we just recently renewed with the union," he said. "What we have is a difference of opinion here regarding the interpretation of the collective agreement and we'll resolve that using the traditional and appropriate labour processes for that type of disagreement." Walker also had concerns that the confidentiality of employee medical documents, so closely guarded by medical practitioners, would not be seriously adhered to by management. "Half the time they leave these kinds of notes out on the desk. They're not even kept confidential," she said. "Human resources, they leave them around, too, so we're not prepared to release this information." Duncan noted that such concerns regarding employee medical documents are groundless. "Everything would be treated with absolute confidentiality," he said. While the protesters are united in their cause, each individual seemed to have their own personal reasons for getting involved. These personal reasons were enough to keep the picketers on the street as Wednesday's light snowfall turned into a blizzard. "The policy change is not affecting me right now, but it will," said Cheryl Wing, Program Assistant with the facility's Duel Diagnosis Service. "I'm pregnant and when I go off on maternity leave or should I become sick throughout my pregnancy, I don't think my employer has the right to know exactly what is wrong. If I have a mental health issue, do they have the right to know that? Absolutely not. They have the right to know if I'm sick, how long I'm going to be off work and my prognosis, not my diagnosis." Residential Counsellor Kim McGuinness had similar feelings about the sick plan policy changes. "I've had cancer and it's really none of their business what I went through," she said. "Plus, if my cancer comes back and I'm off for six or eight months, every two weeks, they would want this form from my doctor that costs $55. This form asks can I walk? Can I sit? Can I talk? It's just ridiculous." The picketers have said that Wednesday was only the beginning of their campaign, which will continue until the employer backs off the disputed policy changes. 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