Delayed budget must be opportunity to introduce substantial investments to help Ontarians

(TORONTO, ON) CUPE Ontario, representing 280,000 public sector workers, calls for more measures to support the province’s workers and for increased resources from the Ontario Government to support communities affected by COVID-19, in response to the Ontario Government’s announcement. “Delaying next week’s budget was clearly necessary,” said Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario President, about the province’s…

One of the strongest protections for Ontarians is to keep health-care workers healthy and working during COVID-19 Pandemic

Toronto – March 13, 2020: Ontarians know that they can count on the commitment of the province’s health- care workers to provide the best and safest care possible under challenging conditions, including under the current Pandemic COVID-19 outbreak. This is why nurses and other front-line health-care workers are calling on the Ontario Government to ensure…

Province’s youngest, vulnerable and low-paid left out of government plans to stop COVID-19: CUPE

Government says leaving childcare open in schools is “up to school boards” TORONTO – The Ford government’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 could make life more dangerous in Ontario if the government won’t also protect the children, families and workers in and around the childcare centres that operate out of publicly funded schools,…

With pandemic here and deadline fast approaching, CUPE 79 urges City of Toronto to ‘get this right’ and conclude negotiations

TORONTO – With a global pandemic here and the deadline for labour disruption just around the corner, the leader of Canada’s largest local union today urged the City of Toronto to reach a settlement. “The whole city is watching. The actions we all take in the coming days will be incredibly consequential. We have to…

Durham Region paramedics highlight ambulance shortages and call for real investment in paramedic services

WHITBY, ON – The union representing paramedics in Durham is calling on regional political leadership to join forces in calling for a greater investment in emergency health services. CUPE Local 1764, which represents about 320 paramedics in Durham Region, recently shared with Durham Region councillors a report that definitively shows the disparity between call volume…

International Women’s Day Statement 2020

(TORONTO, ON) On March 8, CUPE Ontario joins numerous other organizations communities around the world in commemorating International Women’s Day (IWD). CUPE Ontario recognizes the importance of connecting global and local struggles, and of approaching various systems of oppression with an interwoven fightback strategy. Representing 280,000 public sector workers within the province, we are proud…

CUPE alerts community to rushed March closure of Hamilton forensic pathology, calls for independent inquiry

HAMILTON, ON –The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 7800 has learned that Hamilton’s forensic pathology unit is closing hastily at the end of March, months earlier than the original proposed and controversial closure in July. The decision to end forensic autopsies at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is already riddled with “controversy, equivocations and contradictions…

Coalition of Ontario Unions Files Charter Challenge to Protect Free and Fair Collective Bargaining

A coalition of Ontario unions, coordinated by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), and representing approximately 270,000 thousand employees and over forty different unions, announced today that they have filed a constitutional challenge to Bill 124, the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act. Bill 124 violates the collective bargaining rights enshrined in…

CUPE 3908 and Trent University reach tentative agreement

Peterborough, ON – A tentative agreement has been reached between Trent University and the union representing the institution’s part-time instructors. Negotiators for Unit 1, Local 3908 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 3908-1) and Trent reached the deal following a marathon round of bargaining between the parties, who were assisted by Provincially-appointed mediator…