Laundry workers facing layoffs next month at Health Sciences North are calling on supporters to attend the Feb. 28 city council meeting to show support for their fight to save their jobs.
Health Sciences North announced last fall plans to switch to a different provider for its laundry services, based in southern Ontario, in a bid expected to save $500,000 a year.
The new provider, Mohawk Shared Services, will provide laundry services for the hospital starting in late next month.
The company, with a head office in Burlington and facilities in Hamilton, provides laundry services for hospitals across the province, and will provide laundry services for Health Sciences North at “a price substantially lower than Sudbury Hospital Services” due to its larger scale, the hospital told Sudbury.com in an earlier statement.
The move has prompted protests and last month, city councillors directed staff to prepare a report on the economic impact of the job cuts. The report, which estimates the gross impact to be almost $6.5 million, will be presented at the Feb. 28 meeting.
“As the president of CUPE Local 2841, I am making a very emotional plea to all of our supporters to join us on Tuesday,” wrote Gisele Dawson on a Facebook page created to support the workers.
“I can see how so many of you are just as frustrated as we are. It has not been an easy battle for us but we will continue to climb the impossible mountain that has been placed in our path.
“Demonstrate to city council how important it is to keep these jobs local and that this community takes this economic impact report seriously. Please join us! Strength in numbers!”
Another item on the agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting deals with laundry services for the city's paramedics, which used to be done at HSN by the same workers. The staff report recommends the city follow the hospital's lead and award the contract to Mohawk, as well.
The city would save as much as $40,000 by switching to Mohawk, the report said, money that could go back into the EMS budget.
No savings would be found by tendering the contract, the report says, because the city would have to set up a new laundry system at the hospital, which would be too expensive.
And staying with Sudbury Hospital Services, the local company that lost the HSN contract, would mean cost increases of $35,000 a year. Having the paramedics take it on themselves would mean hiring staff and costs as high as $170,000.
