December 7, 2023

OCHU/CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor say the government must prevent further closures by entering hospital negotiations to invest in frontline staff.

Toronto, Ontario – In response to yesterday’s damning report by the Auditor General and a new report by the Ontario Health Coalition revealing nearly 1,200 Emergency Room and other hospital department shutdowns in 2023, three major hospital unions are demanding the Ford government come to the bargaining table with the funding required negotiate a deal to save public hospitals. Otherwise, they say workers will be forced to take unprecedented action to save public hospitals. After failing to respond to our tri-union request to streamline the bargaining process in an effort to efficiently standardize working conditions for healthcare workers across the province, these new reports make it clear that the government must now enter hospital negotiations and address the ongoing crisis.

OCHU/CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor, representing more than 70,000 hospital workers in Ontario, say that provincial underfunding has been used as an excuse by the Ontario Hospital Association during current negotiations, saying there is little room to address the decline in working conditions and patient care.

Staffing shortages are causing unprecedented closures of emergency rooms and urgent care centres, according to the Ontario Health Coalition report, while labour leaders are raising the alarm on long surgical waitlists and a record number of patients receiving “hallway health care”.

The tri-union coalition is now demanding the Ontario government and OHA come together to find the much-needed funding to save our hospitals by ensuring safe staffing across all classifications, while implementing nurse-to-patient ratios to bring Ontario in line with other jurisdictions such as British Columbia and California.

Embedding staffing ratios in the contract would go a long way towards improving working conditions in a sector where exhaustion and burnout has led to a 300 per cent increase in job vacancies since 2015. Safe staffing levels will ensure that healthcare workers are supported to delivery the quality patient care they want to provide.

But reversing that trend will require significant investments from a government wedded to austerity and unwilling to alleviate the health human resources crisis, say the unions.

The latest budget estimates for 2023-24 show an effective funding cut for hospitals as they receive merely 0.5 per cent more in base funding from the province. The unions estimate that Ontario needs to invest, after increases to offset inflation, at least $1.25 billion annually for the next five years to stabilize patient care and address recruitment and retention challenges, constituting a 5 per cent annual growth rate.

However, if the government continues to be neglectful, the unions say there is a growing appetite for militancy among their members.

QUOTES

“Our members are distraught and angry. They find it inexcusable that the government is indifferent to the suffering of hospital patients. They don’t understand how Doug Ford can cut funding while ERs are shutting down, while a record number of patients are receiving treatment in hallways, and while children are dying on surgical wait-lists. They have lost faith in this government’s ability to manage public health care, and that’s reflected in the attrition rate. It’s high time for course correction – our unions have tabled reasonable proposals to improve staff-to-patient ratios and the quality of care, and the government must come to the bargaining table and deliver the resources to seriously address the crisis.” – Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), which is negotiating on behalf of 50,000 hospital workers.

“Yesterday, the Auditor General repeatedly and definitively declared that Ontario has no real health human resource strategy. Now, we are asking the Ford government to do the only thing they can do to truly prevent the collapse of our hospitals, and that is to do something they have never done before: come to the bargaining table as a party prepared to fund and fix the abhorrent working conditions and pay that is driving frontline workers out of the public system and driving up wait-times for patients. Taxpayers fund our public education system and therefore the provincial government sits at the bargaining table with teachers. Similarly, we are calling on the provincial government to participate in saving our public hospitals by joining healthcare workers at the bargaining table to address the lack of funding the Ontario Hospital Association blames for worsening hallway healthcare and privatization threats.”  – Sharleen Stewart, President, SEIU Healthcare

“We are deeply concerned about the escalating crisis in our hospitals. The staggering number of department closures is not just a statistic – it’s a clear sign of a system in distress, affecting real lives every day. Our members are at the frontline, witnessing the deteriorating conditions firsthand. Health care workers are overworked, under-resourced, and yet they continue to deliver care with unwavering dedication. It’s time for the Ford government to recognize the urgency of the situation. We need immediate and substantial investment in our healthcare system to ensure safe staffing levels and quality patient care. Unifor remains united with our fellow unions in calling for meaningful negotiations and we are prepared to take decisive action to protect the health and rights of Ontarians,” Kelly-Anne Orr, Assistant to the National Officers

December 6, 2023

 

Unifor members alongside health care workers and community activists attended the Ontario Health Coalitions Day of Action to advocate against the alarming trend of hospital service closures across the province.

“As Unifor members, our presence today signifies more than support – it’s a commitment to fight for the preservation and improvement of our healthcare services,” said Samia Hashi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “We continue to rally behind our ‘Save Health Care’ campaign, which represents our collective voice in calling for impactful changes and sustainable solutions to ensure that every Ontarian has access to the quality healthcare they deserve.”

At the Day of Action the Coalition released it latest report, “Unprecedented and Worsening: Ontario’s Local Hospital Closures 2023,” that offers a startling overview of the healthcare situation in Ontario. The report details an unprecedented number of hospital closures, including 868 emergency department closures, highlighting a healthcare system in distress.

“The data revealed is not just alarming, it’s a wake-up call. Our health care system, a lifeline for so many, is under threat,” said Hashi.

As the Ford government continues policies that exacerbate these challenges, Unifor continues to demand immediate action to fund public health care, address the staff crisis and rise in hospital closures.

For more information visit. www.SaveHealthCare.ca

Source:https://www.camh.ca/en/

Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics

Learn more about mental illness and substance use disorders here.

Prevalence

• In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness.¹
• By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have – or have had – a mental illness.²

Who is affected?

• Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group.³
• 39% of Ontario high-school students indicate a moderate-to-serious level of psychological distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression). A further 17% indicate a serious level of psychological distress.⁴
• Men have higher rates of substance use disorders than women, while women have higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders.⁵
• Mental and physical health are linked. People with a long-term physical health condition such as chronic pain are much more likely to also experience mood disorders. Conversely, people with a mood disorder are at much higher risk of developing a long-term medical condition.⁶
• People with a mental illness are twice as likely to have a substance use disorder compared to the general population. At least 20% of people with a mental illness have a co-occurring substance use disorder.⁷ For people with schizophrenia, the number may be as high as 50%.⁸

 

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December 6, 2023

 

More than 100 telecommunications members from Expertech gathered in Kingston, Ontario, on Tuesday, December 5, to demand fair wages, improved benefits, and an end to the persistent issue of contracting out at Bell Canada.

Despite the cold weather, the workers were determined to express their discontent with the lack of commitment and respect from Bell Canada. Participants marched from Confederation Park to Kingston Market Square Hotel, where collective bargaining with Bell is taking place.

Samia Hashi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director, highlighted the disparity between Bell Canada’s significant profits and its seeming reluctance to address reasonable asks of its workers. “While Bell declares billions in profits, it turns a blind eye to the legitimate wage demands of its workforce, who are the very reason for their success,” she said.

Roch Leblanc, Unifor Telecommunications Director, conveyed the impact of Bell’s employment cuts at Expertech, stating, “In January 2014, there were 1,200 workers here at Expertech – now we have 700.”

As the telecommunications industry undergoes changes, Expertech members are calling for protection of full-time jobs, equitable wages and benefits that keep up with the pace of inflation.

These members’ contracts expired on November 30, 2023 and, at this point, Bell Canada has not responded to the union’s wage proposal. This lack of acknowledgment has left the workforce feeling undervalued and overlooked, especially given their significant contribution to the company’s success.

The unity displayed in Kingston sends a message to Bell Canada, emphasizing the determination of telecommunications workers to secure fair treatment and just compensation for their contributions.