Health care unions call for honest, frank collaboration from Ontario government regarding COVID-19 protection for health care workers

Toronto – March 11, 2020: The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are calling for honest and frank collaboration with the Government of Ontario regarding guidelines for COVID-19 protection…

Details

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…

Details

City of Toronto needs to shift focus from contingency planning to negotiating a fair deal with CUPE Local 79

TORONTO, ON – The President of the union representing over 20,000 City of Toronto ‘inside’ workers today urged the City to shift its focus from contingency plans to the place it needs to be – the bargaining table. “The best possible contingency plan is to negotiate a fair contract,” said Dave Mitchell, President of Local…

Details

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…

Details

Statement on Wet’suwet’en land rights.

Statement adopted by the CUPE Ontario Executive Board March 4, 2020 CUPE Ontario is deeply concerned about the recent rise of hate directed at Indigenous people, in particular the land defenders of the Tyendinaga Mohawks, following widespread support from community and working-class activists for Wet’suwet’en land rights. CUPE Ontario calls on levels of governments to:…

Details

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…

Details

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…

Details