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Fighting Health Care Privatization Ending Competitive Bidding in Home Care
TO: All CUPE Home Care, OCHU Hospital Locals
LHINs-Affected Locals
FROM: Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario
Michael Hurley, President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU)
Susan Schmidt, Chair, Health Care Workers Coordinating Committee (HCWCC)
We need a real public consultation on rebuilding home care
CUPE Ontario and OCHU’s home care campaign launched on March 11, 2008 with a Queen’s Park media conference, which included sisters Patricia Pitt-Anderson (CUPE 3808), a personal support worker (PSW), the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) director Natalie Mehra and Kelly O’Sullivan, President, CUPE 4308that includes personal support workers. CUPE called for province-wide home care public hearings and an end to contract competition.
CUPE Ontario/OCHU set up 1-888-599-0770 home care hotline
While the province is doing an internal review of competitive bidding, CUPE wants to hear about people’s experiences with home care under a competitive model.
A home care hotline (1-888-599-0770) is now available for people to relay stories about the level of service they are receiving and working conditions for home care staff. Please encourage people you know, that have experience with the effects of contract competition on home care, to call the hotline.
What’s next?
Over the next few weeks, CUPE will hold media conferences** to announce the hotline number in communities across the province including Sudbury, North Bay, Niagara, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Cornwall, Oshawa, Barrie, Kitchener.
**A full list of dates and locations will soon be available. Check www.cupe.on.ca for updates.
Take action
FAX your MPP
Included with this campaign update is an action fax document and the contact list for Ontario MPPs can be found under the Home Care campaign link at: www.cupe.on.ca.
On Friday, March 28, please take the time to send your MPP the action fax calling for a real consultation process with the people of Ontario that will involve public hearings in towns and cities right across the province about building a public, not-for-profit home care system.
Why ending home privatization is a priority?
Ontario CUPE members in the home care, hospital and community social services sectors understand that ending competitive bidding in home care is an important anti-privatization challenge in Ontario. Eight years of expanded for-profit care under a competitive bidding system has brought no evidence of better quality care for patients and poor working conditions for home care staff.
Is your local union involved?
More than 60 CUPE locals from the sectors participated in a province-wide telephone broadcast call on March 3, 2008 including OCHU president Michael Hurley and Kelly O’Sullivan, president of CUPE 4308, a multi-service local that includes home care workers. They outlined why ending competitive bidding in home care is key to stopping the expansion of competition and service privatization in hospitals, long-term care and community-based social services.
Please attend the OHC home care forums
The time to act is now
The McGuinty government will decide by early April if the privatization practice known as competitive bidding will continue.
Organize a petition signing day in your community
Organize a petition signing day between March 22 and mid-Aprilin your local union and in your community.
Bring the petition (included in this mailing) to an event that’s already been scheduled in your communitylike a hockey tournament, conference, or a community meeting, and get it signed.
Want to find out more about the home care campaign, please contact:
Maureen Giuliani at 416-299-9739 x 309
Your CUPE National Staff Representative
Your OCHU Area Representative
