Nurses working for Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles say they do not want to strike, but they may be forced to if conciliated talks fail Friday.
The nurses work at the Windsor Assembly Plant and other FCA facilities in Canada, and have been without a contract since December.
There is a lot at stake for the company. If the nurses strike, other unionized workers at the plant will be asked not to cross the picket line.
"I don't think that is where it is headed at this point," says Unifor Local 444 President Dino Chiodo. "[But] a picket line is a picket line. If we were on strike, we'd be asking those employees not to cross the picket line. I think it works both ways."
Just 16 nurses caring for 6,500 workers at the plant in Windsor, but only three are considered full-time. Another nine work full-time hours but do not have access to full-time wages and benefits.
The Ontario Nurses Association also says the nurses do not have a pay grid, so they have not had a raise since they were hired in 2006.
"Our nurses respond to health crises in all medical emergencies, traumas and critical injuries in life-threatening situations, and yet they have been treated shoddily by their employer," says ONA First Vice-President Vicki McKenna. "There is a provincial workplace review underway -- and this precarious work has to stop."
ONA and FCA held three days of talks but failed to reach a deal.
The nurses fear a strike will negatively affect workers at the Windsor Assembly Plant. In addition to emergency care, they promote health and safety, provide vaccination clinics and fitting workers with respirators.
Head of Communications for FCA Lou Ann Gosselin says the company has no comment at this time.
