University staff fear for their health and safety as Ford government drops basic COVID-19 precautions on campus

TORONTO, ON – Students and workers feel abandoned after an Ontario government memo said universities and colleges will re-open without measures like class capacity limits or improvements to ventilation, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. “More than 30,000 support and academic workers are now apprehensive about returning to campuses. They are baffled…

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Image shows many people in colourful t-shirts marching outdoors down the middle of a street.

Hundreds march in 14 communities across New Brunswick in solidarity with front-line workers

“I’m here from Ontario to show solidarity with our members in New Brunswick. What’s happening here is incredibly inspiring because frontline workers, public sector workers are facing the same challenges. Whether we’re in Ontario and New Brunswick, Alberta, across the country, we’re the folks who got our communities through the pandemic, in incredibly stressful, difficult…

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Image shows financial materials with glossy covers.

OMERS posts 8.8% return as it faces down members’ complaints

The union representing more than 40 per cent of OMERS’ members did not appear placated, instead renewing calls for an independent review of OMERS, saying the mid-year results aren’t enough to draw attention away from the pension fund’s “systemic underperformance.“ “Just like a single cold day doesn’t mean temperatures aren’t rising, half a year of…

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“Mid-year results don’t paint the whole picture”: CUPE Ontario says first-ever report should not distract from call for an independent review of OMERS

TORONTO, ON – A first-ever mid-year report by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) can’t draw attention away from the systemic underperformance of OMERS investment returns, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. “Just like a single cold day doesn’t mean temperatures aren’t rising, half a year of investment returns tells us…

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A hospital worker holds a colourful paper sign that reads "Respect Us; Protect Us; Pay Us" at an outdoor rally.

Trillium Hospital Workers Protest Thursday to Fight Wage Cuts and Concessions

The hospital workers are asking for respect and better pandemic protections – safety measures, which will also benefit patients. In addition to getting Bill 124 repealed, they want the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) the umbrella group for hospital employers, to take several concessions, including language around seniority and retirement packages, off the table. In July,…

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Paramedics lean over a patient ona stretcher

CUPE Files Legal Challenge to OMERS’ Punitive Treatment of Paramedics

“Paramedics have been demanding that OMERS allow them fair access to earlier retirement options for over a decade,” said Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, about the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. “Now OMERS is saying working paramedics can transition to earlier retirement options only at the risk of deep cuts to their pensions. This…

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Photo shows Michael Hurley with a megaphone.

“You are heroes”: Union rally highlights hospital workers’ sacrifices ahead of fall contract negotiations

“Our members at this hospital were working very long hours, 14, 15, 16 hours a day,” said Fred Hahn, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees of Ontario. “Then, when they went home, they were so worried and uncertain about infecting their families that they slept in their garages, or in their cars in…

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