CUPE dress tattoo to cover up the truth

The union represents about 3,400 employees, the hospital in Ottawa, implementation challenges last year by the hospital dress. Tattoo is one of the most controversial issues.

Hospital dress covers the situation from employees to wear shoes, their nails. Also provides large tattoo, visible, must be covered and prohibit "visible, excessive body piercings.

The union people are immersed in sorrow policy effective, even in its March 2011, they thought it was excessive restrictions. The hearing began nearly a year and a half ago, the two sides meet again this week, Lorne require two arbitrators. The two days of the hearing is scheduled in December.

Although the treatment strategies tattoo is not the only controversial matters, it has become a key issue in many hospital staff, CUPE Local 4000 president Bruce Waller said. "A lot of people are concerned about the tattoo and body piercing," he said.

Tattoos, once with a less savory social groups, has become more and more common. The survey shows that in five Canadians have a tattoo. This rises to about one-third of the age the age of 18 - and 29-year-old child.

If a tattoo is offensive, Waller believes that employees should not obscure it. But he did not agree that anyone should have a large visible tattoo cover up them. His feelings, the two may have the same feeling.

"I do not think the tattoo is for employers," he said. "There is a complete human rights and freedom to express themselves."

Everyone is waiting for, Waller said, to see how the Ontario Provincial Police - his policies cover visible tattoos arbitrator struck down last year - to solve this problem.

The the OPP the new policy is still work Jim Christie, Chairman of the OPP Association, so now there is no policy. "OPP Commissioner However, if you produce something reasonable, employee associations will be considered," he said.

"We have not completely lack of flexibility on this matter," Christie said. He pointed out, however, OPP officers should be representative of the communities they serve.

"You can not really have here are two ways you can not say, 'I want to walk, see, talk, and to accept my community police, but I do not like tattoos."

Ginette, Ottawa Hospital's vice president of professional practice, Roger said, the hospital decided to develop a general dress code, the nurse put a committee draft policy, based on the appearance of the hospital staff of the patient's complaints.

The enthusiastic response of the patients, Roger said. After the code is published, I received an e-mail and phone, tonne and opinions, in the hallway of patients and their families, said, "It's just a matter of time. '

Ottawa Hospital, many frail elderly patients can feel threatened if someone is not in his room wearing professional, or large, obvious tattoos, Roger said. "We look like great, they feel safe in our hands."

She said, the hospital is "a small, discrete tattoo, but if you are from head to toe tattoos, because this is a lot to."

According to Waller "The word on the street, if you have a lot of visible tattoos, NA in Ottawa hospital I do not think this is a good thing."

But Roger denied that the hospital will not hire people with tattoos. "This is not even a discussion."

Waller said, the hospital registered practical nurses (RPNs) also dress requirements uneasy, they dressed in a white lab coat, and in a break or lunch.

The hospitals want to wear a lab coat, so that visitors to the hospital staff at any time, are able to easily determine if they have any questions.

But the RPNs to say, "If I have my lunch, I should have the right to access to justice sitting there for lunch, no one asked me, if I were a (registered nurse) or the RPN" Waller said. "They think this is a violation of their free half-hour time."

The unions also dissatisfied because the policy of the management staff to the discretion of the employee's appearance is a violation of the dress.

"There is not a standard place if the managers believe that employees are dressing inappropriately or do not wear the right things, they have the right to tell you, people go home and change."

Waller admitted that has not happened yet, but the fact of the properties, the whole matter is before the arbitrator.

Ideally, he said, the unions want to down the hospital management "come up with something, is a more reasonable, but I think this is far In my opinion, the arbitrators will have to make some decisions. appropriate or inappropriate. "