HEU stages rally against plans to privatize hospital laundry services Saturday in Nelson
By Nelson Daily Staff
Laundry workers at Kootenay Lake Hospital are being joined by Hospital Employees Union (HEU) president Victor Elkins at a rally Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. at the Baker Street Best Western Hotel on the 100 Block of Baker Street.
The group will then parade to City Hall where Elkins will be one of the key speakers at the rally against the Interior Health Authority’s plans to privatize hospital laundry services in 11 communities.
“If contracted out, the laundry services and 175 decent, family-supporting jobs – including 17 in Nelson – could be transferred to the Lower Mainland or Alberta, where private contractors bidding on the work are located,” the HEU media release said.
HEU said so far, local governments in Nelson, Kamloops, Vernon, Williams Lake, Summerland and 100 Mile House have raised concerns about privatizing their hospital laundry and the subsequent job losses in their communities.
In mid-May, HEU laundry workers presented a petition with more than 12,400 signatures of support to NDP MLAs, who tabled the petition in the B.C. legislature.
