Contract Negotiations Break Down between CUPE and Province

CUPE and SEIU Health Care announced today the break down of contract negotiations for 70,000 Ontario Hospital Staff. The union says while dealing with exhaustion and the mental and physical scars of four waves of pandemic work, Ontario hospital workers faced an aggressive attack on their working conditions and wages by their hospital employers, who pushed rollbacks in this round of provincial contract negotiations, which began in June and continued through September.

Racially directed abuse, sexual assault and harassment and physical violence and aggression against hospital workers is a staggering problem for this female dominated and racialized workforce.

In a recent poll of 2658 front line hospital workers, 66% said violent incidence have increased during the pandemic, 84% report they have been verbally harassed and 56% say they have been physical abused by patients or family members.

Racialized and First Nations Indigenous hospital workers reported significantly higher incidents of both verbal harassment and physical violence because of their race, appearance or sexual orientation at 54% and 64% respectively they say.

Key health and safety provisions – including guaranteed access to pandemic safety equipment and improved violence and mental health supports were rebuffed by the Ontario Hospital Association that negotiates on behalf of Ontario’s hospitals.

CUPE and SEIU Healthcare say the hospitals ignorance in ensuring that workers have the protections they need to work safely during the pandemic and to deal with violence is their workplace is incomprehensible and they say they will be doubling efforts to talk directly to Ontarians about these major problems.