Personal support workers (PSWs) at the Hillcrest site of the University Health Network (UHN) are paid $16.83 an hour or less, have 3 paid sick days a year, and are overwhelmingly women and racialized. This reactivation hospital takes patients from the wider UHN, where PSWs enjoy better pay and benefits. The Ontario Council of Hospital…
Unions representing 175,000 workers serving on the frontlines of this pandemic demand the Ford government support this female majority workforce TORONTO, ON – Today, SEIU Healthcare, Unifor, and CUPE, unions representing 175,000 healthcare workers across Ontario, held a virtual media conference to announce the launch of International Women’s Day actions with a clear message to…
TORONTO, ON – Long-term care staffing in Ontario remains far below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. The gravity of the staffing shortage requires a substantive and comprehensive recruitment, training and retention workforce strategy, say health care unions representing approximately 70,000 personal support workers (PSWs). Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction from what was announced…
“Shocking,” “appalling,” “offensive” and “disappointing” are just some of the words critics are using to describe the Ontario government’s latest plan to train personal support workers (PSWs) in the province. “Their lethargy is profound…delaying training and recruitment. In the meantime nearly 4,000 residents have died in long-term care in the last year,” said Candace Rennick,…
MISSISSAUGA, ON – Despite a provincial order saying they have a right to ask for the N95 masks and get one when dealing with a suspected or presumed case of COVID-19, Peel long-term care staff are still being denied access to them, the union representing 900 front-line staff at four Peel Region municipal homes says.…
TORONTO, ON – Toronto’s prestigious University Health Network (UHN) is exploiting personal support workers (PSWs), nurses and other health staff at their satellite hospital the Hillcrest Reactivation Centre, charged several PSWs who spoke publicly for the first time about their dismal pay and back-breaking working conditions. The three PSWs described their gruelling workloads, constant understaffing,…
TORONTO, ON – Full-time clerical workers at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto have voted to join Canada’s largest healthcare union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The ballot count was delayed for more than three months by technical objections from the group’s former bargaining agent, NOWU. Finally, on February 8, the Ontario Labour Relations…
Ottawa, ON – There should be one set of rules that apply to all hospital staff said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) today in calling out the CEO of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (ROMHC) for her silence on the storm over the approval of international travel and paid quarantine for a…
TORONTO, ON. – Today the Ontario government took a giant step in acknowledging that COVID-19 is an airborne virus by announcing they are investing in an “airborne COVID-19 detector”, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees. CEM Specialties Inc. (CEMSI) will get $2 million through the Ontario Together Fund to help commercialize and accelerate production…
Toronto, ON — Members of CUPE Local 4891, which represents workers at Regeneration Community Services, have responded to the employer’s attempt to impose a three-year wage and benefit freeze by voting 92% in favor of striking if necessary. “After the appointment of a conciliation officer and months of talks, our employer continues to insist on…
