TORONTO, ON – Today’s announcement of a unilateral hiring freeze across all government services demonstrates Premier Designate Doug Ford’s lack of understanding of the overall scope of services the Ontario government provides, says CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn.
“Ford has not even been sworn in as Premier and he has made this sweeping decision without having had the time to actually understand the overall needs of each of the Ministries and the services they provide across Ontario,” says Hahn. “This has the potential of causing significant and perhaps unintended problems on the frontlines in our communities.”
“Rash decisions are not the way to improve the lives of working people and their families,” says Candace Rennick, Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE Ontario. “Once the new Premier officially takes office and becomes more familiar with the breadth of necessary jobs that will be effected, we hope he will adjust his decision.”
Though full details of the hiring freeze are unclear, while representing the City of Toronto, Doug Ford supported policies that led to significant numbers of jobs going unfilled after retirements, parental leaves and resignations.
“What we saw in Toronto directly impacted the level and quality of services people received,” says Hahn. “We are gravely concerned that today’s announcement will lead to the same or worse all across Ontario. We already have a crisis in long-term care and our children are not getting the level of support they need in the classroom. We need a Premier who is going to make sure people get the services they need, not one that will make everything worse.”
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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638 www.cupe.on.ca
