Members of the Ontario Nurses Association rallied today in Thunder Bay in support of their bargaining unit ahead of the next round of talks.

Trevor Cava is a registered nurse and member of ONA Local 73, he says he was happy to see so many nurses come out and brave the cold.

“We had roughly a 150 to 170 people out today, just shows how much these nurses care about their work place, their patients and the care they can provide.”

Today’s rally marks the second collective action undertaken by the nurses, who started a sticker campaign earlier this month.

Nurses across Ontario are looking for better working conditions and fair compensation. This in hopes of bringing back former members who have left the profession due to issues, including nurse to patient ratios, which have doubled over the last year.

Cava believes the way things have slid downhill over the years has only emboldened his fellow nurses to take a stand to improve both working conditions and patient care.

“We’ve had to work in the conditions we’ve worked in, again double, triple workloads, and I think its stirred everyone up and that’s one of the reasons why everyone is out here today. I couldn’t be more proud to be a nurse and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the organizing committee and have everyone come out and support us.”

A majority of ONA Local 73’s membership of 1100 is based in the Thunder Bay area, however there are other smaller groups of nurses in communities like Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.

A third collective action is slated to take place next month right before bargaining wraps up, however it will be in Toronto where talks are being held.