Ontario hospital staff subjected to a disturbing pandemic surge in physical and sexual violence; new CUPE poll finds

COVID-19, Health and Safety, Health Care

TORONTO, ON – Pandemic tensions and unprecedented hospital staffing shortages are fueling already high rates of violence – including sexual harassment and assaults – against Ontario’s mostly female hospital workforce, a new poll of 2300 front-line registered practical nurses (RPNs), PSWs, porters, cleaners, and other front-line hospital staff, reveals. Polling conducted by Oracle Research on…

Haliburton, Kawarthas & Muskoka frontline education workers rally to stop school cuts

COVID-19, School Boards, Solidarity

Bracebridge, ON – Frontline education workers rallied outside of the Muskoka Education Centre on Tuesday evening, urging Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) trustees to reject the proposed 2022-2023 board budget because it contained staffing cuts that will harm the quality of education for students. “We’re bringing our pink slips to the school board meeting…

Education workers tell the ‘get it done premier’: Get a fair deal done now to avoid classroom upheaval in September

COVID-19, Governmental, School Boards

WINDSOR, ON – Frontline education workers are ready to fight for what students need in the classroom and what they need to do their jobs even better. The day after a provincial election that saw Premier Doug Ford unequivocally assure workers “I’ll always have their backs” and repeatedly promise to “get it done,” and 90…

ECE cuts hurt kids most affected by pandemic: Toronto Education Workers urge everyone to vote for positive change

Child Care, COVID-19, Governmental, School Boards

TORONTO, ON – Frontline workers are warning of devastating lifelong effects from the Toronto District School Board’s looming cuts of nearly 100 designated early childhood educators (ECEs) for the school year starting in September. “TDSB trustees must immediately rescind these damaging cuts,” said John Weatherup, president of Toronto Education Workers/CUPE Local 4400. “Children five years…

“We are approaching a major crisis of care:” Kenora District paramedics call for provincial and municipal investments in emergency services and community health

COVID-19, Paramedics, Solidarity

Kenora, ON – CUPE Local 5911 paramedics serving the District of Kenora are advocating for investments from the provincial and municipal governments to improve ambulance coverage for patients calling 911 and working conditions for paramedics. In addition to more direct funding for the paramedic service, the union is also calling for investments in community health…

New report finds 1400 seniors who died from COVID-19 would not have if Ontario had a fully public long-term care system: Time to make election a referendum on private health care

COVID-19, Governmental, Health Care

TORONTO, ON – More than 1400 seniors died from COVID-19 than would have if Ontario had a fully public long-term care system, according to a new report released today. That is a key lesson for voters in the June 2 election, since the Doug Ford PC’s have said they will deal with the post-pandemic surgical…

Doug Ford would face massive labour unrest in the hospitals if staff didn’t put patients’ interests ahead of their own as negotiations for 70,000 on the front-lines derail over PC Bill 124 wage cut, lack of protections

Bill 124, COVID-19, Governmental, Health Care

TORONTO, ON – Hospital staff are angered and stunned by how the Ontario government and the hospital employers are treating them following two years of pandemic sacrifice as provincial bargaining broke down May 14, says the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario.…

“Paramedics deserve urgent attention”: CUPE Ontario’s First Responders’ Day statement

COVID-19, Governmental, Paramedics, Solidarity

On May 1 2022, First Responders Day, we acknowledge the life-saving work of nearly 6,000 CUPE paramedics and dispatchers in Emergency Medical Services while calling attention to the crisis in the sector. Last October, when we surveyed CUPE EMS members, the results painted a bleak picture of understaffed paramedic services, widespread ambulance shortages, and severe…

This budget is an election ploy: CUPE Ontario responds to underwhelming budget announcement

COVID-19, Governmental, Health Care, Solidarity

TORONTO, ON – Ontarians shouldn’t buy this spin from a government that’s trying to buy an election, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. “Ontarians have long been desperate for real action that would bolster the public services they rely on but today we got nothing more than misleading spending promises that aren’t…