1,200 hospital department closures, untold patient suffering: unions call on Doug Ford to enter hospital negotiations and address ongoing crisis

Health Care, OCHU, Social Services, Solidarity

OCHU/CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor say the government must prevent further closures by entering hospital negotiations to invest in frontline staff. Toronto, Ontario – In response to yesterday’s damning report by the Auditor General and a new report by the Ontario Health Coalition revealing nearly 1,200 Emergency Room and other hospital department shutdowns in 2023,…

Windsor-Essex County Health Unit urges provincial safeguarding of public health services amidst layoffs and funding challenges

COVID-19, Health Care, Public Health Matters, Solidarity

Windsor, ON – In the face of imminent layoffs CUPE 543, which represents close to 130 workers with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, is urging for immediate action to safeguard public health services amidst diminishing provincial funding. ­ The Health Unit recently experienced a substantial reduction in its workforce, resulting in the elimination of 14…

24-hour shifts for nurses at North Bay hospital puts patients at risk, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees

Health Care, Solidarity

North Bay, ON – The North Bay Regional Health Centre is putting the health and safety of patients at risk by requiring nurses to work 24-hour shifts, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees. “This is no way to deliver quality health care – it’s absolutely shocking,” says Michael Hurley, the president of CUPE’s Ontario…

CUPE workers rally to support staff at Windsor’s Regency Park Long-Term Care Home after staff receive layoff notices

Health Care, Home Care, Solidarity

Windsor, ON – On Friday, CUPE workers from across the province will rally at the Regency Park Long-Term Care home in solidarity with seven long-term care staff who received layoff notices from the for-profit home operated by Universal Care. The seven staff include two dietary aides, three personal support workers, one registered nurse, and one…

SEIU Healthcare, OCHU-CUPE, and Unifor sign 10-point Solidarity Pact to save public hospitals and fight privatization

Health Care

Face à l’augmentation alarmante du nombre de postes vacants, aux fermetures sans précédent de salles d’urgence et aux milliers de patients qui meurent dans l’attente d’une intervention chirurgicale, trois grands syndicats représentant environ 70,000 travailleurs du secteur hospitalier de l’Ontario ont signé aujourd’hui à Queen’s Park un Pacte de solidarité pour sauver nos hôpitaux publics…

CUPE Local 3314 public health workers reach tentative agreement with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Health Care

BELLEVILLE, ON—After 10 days on strike, frontline public health workers at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health have reached a tentative agreement with the board of health. The workers’ bargaining committee resumed negotiations with management on Monday afternoon following news that their nurse coworkers, members of Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 31, ratified a collective agreement…

“We need to recruit and retain workers now”: CUPE Local 4911 calls on Peterborough Paramedic Service to come back with a better offer in bargaining

Health Care, Paramedics

(Peterborough, ON) – What the Peterborough County/City Paramedics is proposing to paramedics in negotiations isn’t good enough and that’s why negotiations have broken down, says the union representing them, CUPE Local 4911. “Staffing at the Peterborough County/City Paramedics has become a real problem,” says Natalie Waters, President of the CUPE Local 4911. “There are many…

“Ignoring the obvious”: CUPE Ontario and HCWCC joint statement on the Ontario Ombudsman’s LTC report and for-profit care homes

Health Care

CUPE Ontario and the Health Care Workers Coordinating Committee (HCWCC) have examined the Ontario Ombudsman’s report, Lessons for the Long Term. The report describes, in devastating detail, the failure of the Ford Conservatives to provide adequate oversight of long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the report shows, the province’s inspection system was already under…