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WIII1 BN' FREE IPRESS, WEDNESI)AY, JUNI 5.1985,IPAGE 3 WPH nurses want wage pariywt hsias others seeking to.recover losses due to restraint Nurses and support staff at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital staged an information picket just outside the facility last Thursday afternoon ta pratest lagging contract negotiations. Like employees at other psychiatric hospitals across the province the members of Local 331 of the On- tario Public Service Employees Union A prolonged and angry debate over where ta locate a new landfill site in Durham Region could be avoided if other methods of waste disposai were used, according ta, Whitby Reg. Coun. Gerry Emm. "An incinerator and a recycling programn could end years of distasteful wrangling in Durham over where a landfill site could be located," Emm, who also serves as Chairman of Durham Region Counil's public works .committee, said in a -written statement Mon- day. iHis comments were based on a report sub- mitted ta the works committee last week by the MacLaren Engineering firm. That report has recommended that alternatives ta the currently used landfill site method of garbage disposaI be explored. The report also stated that the amount o! solid waste needed disposaI is expected ta, increase from 223,850 tonnes in 1985 ta 312,850 tonnes a year in 2005. "One alternative way is ta, recycle as many household items as possible at the source, like what is being done in the pilat project in the West Lynde area," Emm said. "Recycling greatly reduces the volumes that will have ta be disposed of, while at the same lime protecting aur resources," he ad- ded. During the study process, local industries were surveyed ta delerniine whether or nol they could make use o! a steam from an energy waste plant. Accarding ta Emm, the most likely prospect for such a faciity is the General Motars plant in south Oshawa. 'General Molors staff have indicated that they would be interested in purchasîng sleam from a regional E.F.W. facilily, " he said. "We would still need a landfill site for the ash, but the size would be <O.P.S.E.U.) have been without a contract since Dec. 31. According ta Joan Gates, a registered nur- se at the hospital and president of Local 331, the nurses are seeking wage parity with their counterparts working in general hospitals. Gates said that their is a 25 per cent differen- ce in the average wage paid to a psychiatric hospital nurse and that greatly reduced," he added. The chairman said that the committee will take another look at the report in about four weeks time. Although he doesn't know what the final outcome will be he was confidenct that any method employed would be costly. "If we can recover some of the costs by recycling and also by selling steam through an E.F.W. plant, we may be able ta have somiething in place by 1990," Emm said, ad- ding, "I believe the council would like ta salve the approaching landfill dilemmas of this regian once and for al. " paid ta a general hospital nurse. This produces several problems, she added, including a high staff turn-over rate and low morale. The com- paritively low wages also produce a constant staff shortage.. "They are not paying competitively," Gates said adding - that O.P.S.E.U. is looking for salary hikes for nur- ses of between eight and 15 per cent. The gaver. nrnent, she maintains, has affered 2.2 per cent. IIWe are losing staff because of this," Gates said. "They came in, get their experience, and they're gone. " Anther problemn being cantended with by not only nurses but by other support staff is the upswing in assaults by patients. The number of incidents where patients attack staff members is on the rise and Gates believes the best way ta get this situation under contrai is through in- creased staffing levels. She also notes that having them charged with an offense doesn't make any sense. "They are iii and many don't know what they are doing." Also involved in this contract dispute are the support staff including secretaries, ward clerks and occupational therapista among others. These warkers are seeking a seven per cent wage increase but like the nurses have only been offered 2.2 per cent by the provincial gaver- nent. Another major issue in the dispute is job security and the con- tracting out of jobs such as security, housekeeping and ather services. "Our people are con- cerned about job security," Gates said - especially the part-time staff. "They are always under the gun of job security." The government, she added, is also cutting back on the staff in the hospital through at- trition. When people leave, they are not being replaced which causes severe staff shortages. Gates, and the 700 or 50 W.P.H. employees ber local represents, are also angry at the gaver- nment for the way it treats its variaus emn- ployees. She pointed out that in 1984, the second year of the government's restraint programn, medical doctors emn- ployed by the Ministry of Health received seven per cent wage hikes. Her members only received four per cent. "We got wage con- traIs when they didn't," she said. Gates is also angry that the governiment rolled back her mem- bers' contract when it brought in the restraint programn. The contract signed in 1983 called for an il per cent hike. They were rolled by ta five. "lSa wben is a contract not a contract? When it's signed by the Government of On. tario," she maintains. "lWe were made the example for the public service ta follow." The workers are alsc, angry at the gaver. nment for the length of time it takes ta settie a new contract. Gates pointed out that the 1984 settiement was acted upon until February of this year. And this dispute, she said, has an effect an the 400 mn-patients and the 800 out-patients served by the hospital. "After all,.their living conditions are aur working conditions," she said. Gates added that the dispute is currently in arbitration and other than settling Up infor- mation pickets, the membership bas taken no other action. "lWe do nat have the right ta strike, " she said adding that they are not even warking ta rule. IlWe care too much about the patients ta deprive them of their services." 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