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Unifor celebrates Personal Support Worker Day

Unifor celebrates personal support workers (PSWs) in Ontario, and Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) in Nova Scotia on May 19, Personal Support Worker Day.

Across Canada these workers provide the highest quality patient-centred care every day in our communities, our homes, and in long-term care homes and hospitals.

“PSWs and CCAs are incredible caregivers who make sure our loved ones are healthy and safe,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “This pandemic has further exposed the unjust working conditions these workers face every day due to insufficient government investment and continuous cost cutting. These workers deserve better as they continue to serve our most vulnerable despite being overworked and undervalued by governments and employers.”

In the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Unifor has raised the alarm on the crisis in long-term care where many PSWs and CCAs work. The pandemic has shed more light on the sector’s deteriorating working conditions. PSWs and CCAs have faced increasing workloads and have often work short-staffed due in part to the sector’s unfair practices and below inflation wage increases.

For many years, Unifor has specifically called on the Ontario government to address the issues facing PSWs. The union has long advocated for a regulatory minimum of four hours per patient as the standard of care in long-term care homes.

“The pandemic must serve as a wake-up call to Doug Ford that ignoring the risks PSWs face are extreme the crisis in long-term care can no longer be tolerated,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “The health of Ontarians relies on the government immediately developing a holistic strategy that attracts more PSWs back to the industry, regulates minimum hours of care and increases wages beyond the pandemic pay premium. These workers have shown their value time and time again. Now Doug Ford must show them the respect that they deserve.”

In Nova Scotia, Unifor joined with five other unions to advocate for better protection for CCAs, including providing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all health care workers.

“COVID-19 has revealed what Unifor has been saying for years about long-term care being under-funded and under-supported by government,” said Linda MacNeil, Unifor Atlantic Regional Director. “Despite the Nova Scotia government having commissioned an Expert Panel on Long-Term Care, to which Unifor contributed recommendations, and the findings of that panel in early 2019 have not been corrected due to the lack of urgency by McNeil’s government. Workers continue to be over-worked and underpaid, recruitment and retention issues persist.”

Dias calls it an embarrassment that provincial governments have not acted on pleas from long-term care workers, their unions, employers and other advocacy groups.

Personal Support Workers and Continuing Care Assistants are vital members of the patient care team. Their hard work and professionalism is critical to and appreciated by residents and clients. The union will continue to call on governments and employers to provide adequate personal protective equipment, maintain sufficient staffing levels and give fair compensation for long-term care workers during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

In solidarity,

Jerry Dias
National President

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Bell investments in customer experience drive 26% drop in complaints to CCTS

Mid-year report shows Bell’s share of total complaints continues 4-year declining trend

MONTRÉAL, May 12, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ – Bell today welcomed the release of the mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), which shows a 26% drop in the number of complaints accepted by the CCTS from Bell customers, the best performance among national carriers. Bell was the only major communications provider to see its share of total complaints decline in the report, continuing a trend established over the last 4 annual CCTS reports.

“Bell has made it a strategic imperative to champion customer experience and today’s CCTS results indicate our strategy continues to deliver results,” said Mirko Bibic, President and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell. “Bell’s investments in our customer experience teams and in technologies like the innovative MyBell self-serve platform are making it easier than ever before for customers to do business with Bell.”

In the CCTS mid-year report, which covers the period from August 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020, the number of complaints from Bell customers accepted by the CCTS dropped 26.3% compared to the year before. At the same time, Bell’s overall share of total complaints dropped by more than 16%.

“Results like these highlight both Bell’s industry-leading investments in network and service quality and our team’s dedication to delivering for our customers – including how well they have kept Canadians connected and informed throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” said Mr. Bibic.

Complaints to the CCTS from across the industry were down 12% overall during the reporting period, due mostly to the decline in the number of Bell customer complaints.

 

https://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/Bell-investments-in-customer-experience-drive-26-drop-in-complaints-to-CCTS-1?page=1&month=&year=&perpage=25

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Unifor thanks nurses for quality care and support during pandemic

Nurse week

Unifor stands with workers across the country and around the globe in recognizing and celebrating the outstanding contributions of nurses through the release of report highlighting contribution of RPNs and LPNs during National Nursing Week May 11 – 17, 2020.

Nurses across the country need our support and solidarity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses, along with all health care workers, are on the front line, battling the deadly virus each day. The work of RPNs and LPNs is invaluable to providing care for Canadians at all hours of the day.

Unifor, SEIU and CUPE commissioned an independent, academic research study on the role RPNs within high functioning nurse teams in the acute care sector. “The Role of Nurses in High Functioning Teams in Acute Care Settings” report aims to provide a snapshot of the evolving and critical role of RPNs in hospitals.

This report reveals the need for RPNs in our hospital settings. It shows that the integration of RPNs within a health care team is positive and is even more successful when there is organizational support for this structure.

The report further explains how the RPN role in Ontario has changed and expanded over time – both in their educational requirements and scope of practice.

RPNs and LPNs work with Registered Nurses in high-functioning teams to provide patient care in hospitals, long-term care homes and in communities. They receive specialized training and education and continue to show Canadians the vital role they play in our health care system.

As a union, our commitment to improving the working conditions of health care workers has been a priority prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be after the pandemic has ended. We need provincial governments to immediately correct the wrongdoings of the past and invest in health care.

National Nurses Week was established to mark the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s contribution to the field of medicine. Nightingale is often credited as the founder of modern nursing, as she is responsible for many of the standards that are required of present-day nurses, including strict handwashing and hygiene practices.

This year the World Health Organization has designated 2020 as the year of the Nurse and of the Midwife.

Here are two immediate actions you can take to show your appreciation and solidarity to nurses this week:

  1. Throughout this week post our Facebook shareable to highlight the work of RPNs and LPNs nurses_week_2020_shareable_en
  2. Thank a nurse that you know in your life!

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Restarting Ontario’s Economy

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Dear members,

As the Government of Ontario moves towards reopening certain sectors of the economy, I would like to advise you of Unifor’s recent efforts to protect your rights, your health and safety, and ensure that your needs are met during this next phase of the government’s COVID-19 response.

Specifically, your union has urged the provincial government to:

  • provide clear guidance on worker rights and employer responsibilities in all workplaces operating during the pandemic,
  • to ensure critical services, notably transit and childcare, are accessible to all workers who need them at every step of the restart program, and
  • that workplace restarts only happen in lockstep with sufficient PPE for all workers.


The comprehensive details of our union’s concerns are outlined in a letter sent today to Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips.

Additional resources can be found on Unifor’s COVID-19 site at unifor.org/COVID19, including our Returning to Work from COVID-19 Closure fact sheet and our comprehensive analysis on Communicating Worker Rights and Employer Responsibilities.

Reopening Ontario’s economy cannot mean business as usual. Keeping workers and the public safe is a monumental task for governments and employers, and one that is of grave importance.

There are still many challenges to overcome with the COVID-19 pandemic. I urge all members to stay safe and continue to follow the guidance of public health officials.

Should you have any questions or concerns about workplace health and safety issues as well as access to critical services and PPE, please get in touch with the appropriate member of our staff and leadership team.

Sincerely,