Morale was already running low at Sudbury Hospital Services on Friday when laundry workers were told their last delivery date for clean linen to Health Sciences North will be March 17, meaning employees scheduled to be laid off could be sent home about two weeks sooner than expected.

"The general manager spoke to the members yesterday morning in a meeting, prior to our shift," said Gisele Dawson, president of CUPE Local 2841, which represents 38 workers who are to be laid off when HSN sends laundry services to Mohawk Shared Services in Hamilton at the end of March, a move the hospital says will save $500,000.

"It was quite emotional for everybody there. I was an emotional wreck, because I’m doing my best to try and save these jobs for them and we just keep hitting brick walls and a board of directors that, in my opinion, doesn’t seem to care. They did nothing to help diversify our organization and to us, it just looks like blatant disregard for an organization that could have flourished here in Sudbury."

SHS employees and their supporters, including members of the flourishing Facebook group Friends of the Sudbury Hospital Laundry Workers, are skeptical that the move south will yield the savings the hospital claims.

The workers have also taken their fight to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Hospital officials have previously declined comment while the matter is still before the OLRB, but HSN media and public relations officer Dan Lessard did say in an email Saturday that employees at SHS who clean linens will be paid until the end of March, even if HSN transitions earlier to using Mohawk.

Dawson voiced concerns, too, that the hospital may be planning to contract out their work after hearing HSN does not plan to use Mohawk for personal laundry service at Kirkwood Mental Health and Addiction Services, which is owned by North Bay Regional Health Centre, but has a floor for patients in HSN’s care.

Dawson believes SHS should be allowed to bid on the service, as she’s confident they would come in cheaper than other local laundries and the work could potentially be enough to save one full-time job.

Asked about the service, Lessard said HSN is "exploring options personal laundry at Kirkwood, which refers to the patient’s laundry as they often wear their street clothes while in our care at Kirkwood. We do it as a courtesy and some patients have family members do it."

Dawson said the union and supporters will keep pressing HSN and lobbying local politicians to keep their jobs in Sudbury.

CUPE and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions plan to release the results of polling related to laundry services on Friday.

While she doesn’t know the final results, Dawson said she understands they are "very much in our favour."

bleeson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @ben_leeson