Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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Ontario unions to form alliance for respect for 75,000 hospital workers

Three of Canada's largest unions announced yesterday an alliance that will kick off a campaign to push Ontario hospitals to return to bargaining and treat their staff with respect.

This is the first time the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (OCHU/CUPE), SEIU Healthcare and Unifor have come together to seek a negotiated agreement on behalf of 75,000 nurses, personal support workers, cleaners, porters, and administrative, dietary and trades staff at 160 Ontario hospitals.

"By coming together, we are making history to demand that our members get the respect they deserve," said SEIU Healthcare president Sharleen Stewart. "The OHA has been unwilling to negotiate fairly, but I truly believe we are stronger together and I'm hopeful that our alliance will lead to us achieving positive outcomes for the hospital staff we collectively represent."

Unifor, SEIU Healthcare and OCHU/CUPE hospital staff will work together to mobilise against the hospitals' demands for concessions to win a fair new collective agreement under the campaign banner of 'Together for Respect'. Collective actions include a province-wide solidarity day on April 11th and workplace rallies April 18th, along with television and social media advertising that begins on April 9th.

Katha Fortier, Assistant to the National President at Unifor, added:

"Together we are going to resist concessions that the employers have been seeking, from mostly women workers who earn modest wages and deserve more respect.

"Thanks to the hard work of hospital workers, hospitals in this province are the most efficient in the Canada despite dangerous overcrowding, chronic understaffing and increasing workplace violence. Data from the Canadian Institute for Healthcare Information shows Ontario hospitals to have the fewest staff to population, the fewest beds and the most rapid patient turnover in the country.

Addressing some of the other issues, OCHU president Michael Hurley said: "Workloads for our members are very difficult and hospital staff are exhausted and stressed. They experience significant violence at work. The hospitals have reached agreements for paramedical staff, under the prevailing public sector pattern, but the hospitals refuse to extend this modest pattern to the nursing, clerical and support staff that we represent, let alone address issues like violence."

www.cupe.ca / www.seiuhealthcare.ca / www.unifor.org

29th March 2018