There are growing signs that the 2.6 million Ontarians with disabilities are being left behind during this crisis. Underlying medical issues mean people with disabilities are more susceptible to contract the virus and to experience its more severe effects. If they do contract the virus, the province has failed to provide home testing. And while…
We all certainly are in this fight against COVID-19 and its impacts together, but some of us are experiencing the impacts of this crisis more than others. While most Ontarians are stuck inside, others are on our front-lines. They’re in our long-term care facilities caring for the elderly; in group homes caring for people with…
TORONTO, ON – As thousands of hospital staff from many different occupations selflessly volunteer to work in long-term care (LTC) homes afflicted with COVID-19 outbreaks, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is asking whether the decision not to transfer residents to hospital is sound. In other jurisdictions, which are far more successful at containing…
Public health authorities are urging Ontarians to practice social distancing and stay at home to curb the spread of COVID-19. But we have to remember the impacts of such measures don’t fall on us equally. Home may not be safe for individuals who face domestic/intimate partner violence. Statistics Canada released the results of their first…
Op-ed by CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn that first appeared in the Hamilton Spectator on April 13 Ontario MPPs return to the legislature April 14. We’ve been hearing a lot from the government lately. We’re in the grips of a global crisis and our elected officials should be more active than ever. But they’ve left…
TORONTO, ON – Ontario’s Premier today told health care staff fighting COVID-19 that following next week, they will be left exposed, without the personal protections needed to keep them from getting infected. Michael Hurley president of the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is urging the Premier to use the government’s…
(TORONTO, ON) CUPE Ontario, the province’s largest union, is calling on the provincial government to fund municipalities during the pandemic in order to keep staff working and on the payroll. “Municipal services matter, now more than ever – and many municipal governments are doing the right thing by keeping workers on staff,” said Fred Hahn,…
TORONTO, ON – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers and students at Ontario’s post-secondary institutions need more than ‘window dressing’ currently on offer from the Provincial Government, the Chair of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario University Workers’ Coordinating Committee (OUWCC) warned today. “Ontario’s Universities are by no means immune from…
