We’ve come through more than a decade of austerity that has resulted in job cuts, frozen wages, working short staffed, doing “more with less,” and with many people having to work multiple jobs.

We know that same austerity agenda has hit our communities as well, with cuts to services, and the cost of selling our publicly owned assets being dumped back on us.

And we’re seeing a resurgence of racism and hate that our parents and grandparents fought against and hoped was gone for good.

But this Labour Day we CAN celebrate…..because

CUPE members have been fighting back. And we’re winning!

We’ve had more strikes over the past year than at any point in our history. Our members are standing up and making gains.

We’re mobilizing to keep and improve our services, not just for our members, but for our families and our communities.

And we’re not fighting back alone. We’re working in coalition with community partners and making a real difference in our collective future.

This year, working with others, we won the largest ever increase to the minimum wage!  This means the lowest paid workers will begin to make $14/hour in January and $15/hour the following year.

And we won a series of labour law improvements, that include equal pay for part-timers doing the same job as full-timers. This will be a huge improvement for hundreds of thousands of Ontario workers, including many of our members, and will begin to stop employers from replacing good full-time jobs with part-time positions.

Bringing up the wages for the lowest paid workers and getting equal pay for part-timers, not only makes their lives better, it helps to stop the slide backwards and puts us on stronger ground to win greater improvements for all workers.

Working directly with community residents and allies we got the government to stop closing local schools and we successfully stopped the sell-off of our public hydro providers in Wasaga Beach, in Guelph and in Toronto.

We filled the Peel Region School Board chambers, successfully stopping Islamophobic haters who had planned to hijack a meeting with their white-supremacist poison. We stood with Black Lives Matter against carding and with the First Nations people of Grassy Narrows to force the government to clean up the mercury in their water.

All across the province, CUPE members are campaigning to protect the public services that make our province safer and fairer for everyone. That’s why we’re leading the fight for a four-hour minimum standard of daily care for seniors living in long-term care.

A key to ensuring a better future is to ensure we give respect to those who came before us. Our aging seniors deserve high-quality care in their final years and together we can make our government do the right thing.

Even in the midst of all the challenges we face, even with all the work that we are engaged in on so many fronts, I hope you can feel as we do, that CUPE Ontario is a force to be reckoned with.

Let’s take Labour Day to celebrate our growing strength – our growing power to make our world a better place for us and for our children.

Be Bold. Be Brave. Demand Better.

TORONTO, ON – Following the closure of a well-known community agency serving four northwest Toronto neighbourhoods, more than 100 concerned residents, activists and labour unions last night called on the Wynne government to ‘get the balance right’ to ensure their neighbourhoods have access to the services they need, when they need them.

“We are calling on governments – particularly the Wynne Government – to do more than just ensure community agencies, like Doorsteps, have the resources to both administer themselves and deliver programming – it is imperative that community agencies can also access expertise that they may not have in-house,” said Janet Prosper, Coalition Spokesperson, of the Doorsteps Neighbourhood Services Coalition, following an emergency community meeting held last night at the Domenico Diluca Community Centre.

The coalition formed following the closure of Doorsteps Neighbourhood Services earlier this month. Doorsteps provided a wide range of services to Northwest Toronto’s Jane/Finch, Chalkfarm, Falstaff and Daystrom neighbourhoods, including after-school care, seniors support and help for newcomers to Canada.

“Doorsteps shouldn’t have had to close, but the current funding and governance model community agencies operate under very often sets up small agencies to fail. When they do, governments more often than not simply refuse to intervene to ensure the agency’s viability,” said Prosper.

“Rather than deliver the services directly, governments instead provide financial support for community agencies like Doorsteps, but very often tie funding to specific programs, rather than supporting the agency outright. The pendulum has swung too far towards funding programs, without any regard for the agency’s overall operations,” she added.

Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, said the loss of Doorsteps “leaves a real hole in these neighbourhoods, and the onus is all three levels of government, which provide funding for services they would rather not deliver themselves, to get the balance right so that agencies like Doorsteps can deliver programming, administer themselves effectively, and access expertise so they can flourish.”

He added that CUPE Ontario would support the coalition’s efforts to protect services in the community, “because people in these communities have every right to expect that the services they need are there for them, in their neighbourhoods, when they need them.”

Prior to closure, employees at Doorsteps were represented by Local 4772 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 4772).

The coalition sent invitations to several Toronto City Councillors, MPPs and MPs whose Wards either encompass or are adjacent to Doorsteps’ service area, as well as Mayor John Tory. None attended last night’s meeting.

“It is very disappointing that no local politicians took the time to listen to hear how passionate people are about the services they depend on. Dozens of people spoke loudly and clearly last night about how Doorsteps impacts their lives in a positive way. We will certainly be working hard in the coming days to make sure their voices are heard,” said Hahn.

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For more information, please contact:

Janet Prosper, Coalition Spokesperson, 416-557-0214

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

Learn more here.

“We know that students do better when the staff around them are more reflective of the communities they come from. We don’t need to wait for surveys to be completed to begin to address the systemic barriers that prevent this from happening,” says CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn.

“From custodians to office staff, education assistants to early childhood educators, the adults working in the school create the learning environment that helps determine how well kids thrive. We need to do more to make sure those workers are actually representative of a school’s student diversity,” Hahn says.

CUPE has been developing a tool for school boards to collaborate with local unions to identify and begin to address barriers that exist in recruitment, promotion and training opportunities.

“We know that in places like Thunder Bay, job postings are usually done online. We also know many within local First Nations and remote communities have limited access to the internet. This is just one example of many barriers that could be fixed now to improve students’ sense of inclusion in their schools,” says Terri Preston, Chair of the School Board Sector of CUPE Ontario.

“Children only get one shot at their education. While beginning to collect data on outcomes is important, today’s students can’t afford for us to wait until all the data has been collected. We need to start making real changes that multiple studies have already proven will help,” Preston says.

“CUPE’s 55,000 education workers are committed to working together with our local school boards to begin this work,” says Preston. “We made a priority of this in our last round of bargaining and will continue to try and push this critical work forward.”

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For more information, please contact:

Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

“It’s really too bad that it has come to this,” said Roberta Stasyszyn, a museum interpreter and spokesperson for Local 74 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 74), “with students back at school and people returning from summer holidays, fall is a really important time for the museum. We love working here and being part of the community, which is why we are so disappointed at the lack of respect we are being shown by our employer.”

Members of CUPE 74 recently voted unanimously to take strike action if the museum continues to insist on a contract that classifies employees as occasional workers. “We work hard, we take pride in our museum, and we feel that we make a positive contribution to this community. Many of us have worked here for years,” said Stasyszyn, “so it is insulting when our employer insists on a contract that classifies us as occasional workers. We are not occasional workers, we are employees of the museum.”

These negotiations are an example of the growing threat of precarious work in our communities. Precarious work refers to non-standard employment that is insecure and unstable, something Stasyszyn says shouldn’t be the case for any workers. “A lot of people are facing a similar situation. Employers don’t want to recognize workers as employees so that they can avoid guaranteeing us job security or stable shifts. Our museum should be trying to make this type of employment a thing of the past instead of promoting it. Most of us are working two or three jobs just to get by.”

A strike could take place as early as September 24, and would impact the Bowmanville Museum, the Clark Museum and the Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre, but Stasyszyn is holding out hope that a deal can still be reached before a strike becomes necessary.

“We believe that a deal is possible,” Stasyszyn continued, “what we are asking for isn’t unreasonable, it simply involves being recognized for the work that we do. Our priority is to get a fair deal and keep the museum doors open this fall.”

Museum employees and supporters will be on King Street (between Silver and Temperance) in downtown Bowmanville on Saturday, September 16, beginning at 11:00 a.m., to hand out information and speak to members of the community.

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For more information, please contact:

Adam Coones, CUPE National Representative, 705-768-8782

Matthew Stella, CUPE Communications, 613-252-4377

Newly elected Chair of the CUPE Ambulance Committee of Ontario (CACO) Jason Fraser said Ontario’s frontline paramedics might support new legislation expanding their ability to decide if a patient should go to an ER or a different location such as a detox centre or a community clinic, “but only if the changes will not mean weakening hospital and ER funding or expanding the role of private health clinics in Ontario.” Fraser also says it is critical for the government to clarify issues of individual liability for paramedics under the new legislation.

According to the Ministry of Health, under existing Ontario law, paramedics have no choice but to take all patients they transport to a hospital ER whether or not, in their professional judgement, they think that’s where the person really needs to go.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Ambulance Committee of Ontario (CACO) represents more than 5,500 paramedics and 911 dispatchers across Ontario, and is the largest paramedic group in the province.

Following today’s conference vote adopting the resolution, CACO Chair Jason Fraser and CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn sent the resolution and a jointly signed letter to Health Minister Eric Hoskins highlighting their concerns and urging him not to introduce a Bill without first ensuring that Ontario’s paramedics “are on board with any proposed changes.”

“Making emergency medicine work better is always the right thing to do”, Hahn said in the letter to Hoskins, “but only when the people who actually deliver this critical support every day on the street are directly involved in designing and approving those changes.”

The ambulance workers’ conference, September 18-19 in Niagara Falls, also focussed on paramedics’ mounting opposition to government plans to introduce a so-called Fire-Medics model to Ontario under which a municipality might reassign the duties of paramedics to local fire departments.

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For information, please contact:

Matthew Stella, CUPE Communications, 613-252-4377, mstella@cupe.ca

“This case is about more than the sale of Hydro One,” says Hahn. It’s about the government’s responsibility to act in the best interest of its citizens. When a government abandons that responsibility, and does so to the benefit of their political party, they must be held accountable.”

WHAT: Details of further legal action against the Premier and Ministers of Energy and Finance.
WHERE: Queen’s Park Media Studio
WHEN: Thursday, September 21, 2017, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
WHO: Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario President and Steven Shrybman, Goldblatt Partners LLP

Shrybman will provide details on issues for appeal.

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact:
Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638
www.cupe.on.ca

“This case is about more than the sale of Hydro One. It’s about the government’s responsibility to act in the best interest of its citizens,” said CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn, speaking at a press conference at Queen’s Park. “This case is about protecting our democracy from elected officials who are tempted to use their power to benefit themselves and their friends at the expense of the people’s good.”

“Claims like this one are challenged by the Crown as a matter of course – this was no exception,” said lawyer Steven Shrybman, a partner with Goldblatt Partners. “In their attempt to have the suit dismissed the Defendants threw everything but the kitchen sink at the claim, and most of their objections were dismissed by the Court, including their challenge to the adequacy of the pleading of misfeasance.”

“The Premier and her government took something that we collectively owned, that our parents and grandparents paid for with their taxes – something that we all rely on – and they put it in the hands of profiteers who will continue to jack up rates and make life harder for the rest of us,” said Hahn. “But the thing is, they didn’t just privatize it – they structured the deal in a way that led to donations in the hundreds of thousands to the Liberal Party of Ontario, and that have saddled rate payers with charges totalling more than $1 billion. This is misfeasance in public office, and it cannot be allowed to go ahead unchallenged.”

“Despite the fact that the courts found that the claim we filed against the Premier and Ministers had properly made out a case of misfeasance, the court also found that the issues in question concerned core policy matters and were therefore immune from challenge,” said Shrybman. “It’s from this decision that an appeal will be argued before the Ontario Court of Appeal.”

“We hope that the Premier and her Ministers will still be held accountable for their decision to sell off our hydro system in a way that benefited their friends on Bay St. and their own political party,” said Hahn. “Once this case moves to trial the Premier and Ministers will be required to provide full disclosure and the public will be able to know the full story of what went on.”

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638
www.cupe.on.ca

SJ/KJM: COPE491

Although other sectors have seen decreases in workplace violence, incidents in health care are rising in Ontario. Nearly half of direct care hospital staff report being assaulted by patients or patients’ family members each year. It is widely acknowledged that incidents of workplace violence are under-reported because of fear of employer reprisal which hinders health care staff from reporting violent incidents.

In addition to protection from reprisal for speaking out, improving health and safety measures such as providing personal alarms for all staff, enhancing internal systems to flag violent patients and increasing staffing levels in emergency departments and psychiatric units where staff are vulnerable to assault is a key priority in this round of provincial bargaining for 27,000 Ontario hospital staff, including nurses, cleaners and dietary, administrative and trades staff at 120 hospital sites in communities across Ontario represented by CUPE.

CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE) and the OHA have been in bargaining since June for a renewal collective agreement.

“Ontario hospital staff, including those that we represent, are the most productive in Canada. While we have modest economic expectations, we did expect that the hospitals would address the problem of violence in our workplaces. Unfortunately, despite widespread evidence of an epidemic of violent assaults against health care staff, Ontario’s hospitals have little interest in bargaining constructive measures to reduce and prevent workplace violence.

“What we are proposing, in collective bargaining would protect both staff and patients. However the hospitals have refused to engage in meaningful dialogue of this very important issue,” says OCHU president Michael Hurley.

Increasing staffing in areas where violence is prevalent (like psychiatry and the emergency departments), providing alarms, counselling and other supports to workers who are the victims of violence; creating adequate reporting between the Crown, police, corrections, other health care institutions and hospitals to identify potentially violent patients are among of the proposals put forth by OCHU/CUPE that “regrettably this far have been completely rejected by the hospitals.”

Last May, CUPE and UNIFOR nurses appealed to Premier Kathleen and Ontario MPPs to help with the systemic and widespread problem of violence against health care staff, the vast majority of whom are women.

“Many hospital staff have been beaten so badly they will never work again. We are incredibly disheartened that the hospitals are refusing to address this huge problem in collective bargaining,” says OCHU secretary-treasurer Sharon Richer.

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For more information please contact:

Michael Hurley             President OCHU                                  416.884.0770

Sharon Richer              Secretary-Treasurer OCHU                 705.280.0911

Stella Yeadon               CUPE Communications                        416.559.9300

sk*cope491               

No details will be released until both parties have ratified the agreement. Members of CUPE 74 will hold a ratification vote on Monday, September 25.

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For information, please contact:

Adam Coones, CUPE National Representative, 705-768-8782

Matthew Stella, CUPE Communications, 613-252-4377

“Hospitals that are dangerous for staff to work in are also dangerous for patients. The level of physical and sexual assault against hospital staff is abnormally high in Ontario, our internal polling shows, yet the hospital employers refuse to acknowledge violence in a serious way in collective bargaining,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).

Currently OCHU is negotiating a new provincial contract on behalf of 27,000 hospital staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), including those at Sudbury’s Health Sciences North (HSN) and North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) and hospitals in Kenora, Fort Frances, Timmins, Geraldton, New Liskeard, Hearst, Nippising and Espanola.

“Our members have signalled strongly that they want themselves and their patients to be safe in Ontario’s hospitals. Talks have broken off until that can happen and a campaign to bring this issue to the public is underway,” says Hurley.

On Wednesday, September 27 at 10:30 a.m., Roger Richer, OCHU Northern Ontario Regional vice-president and Dave Shelefontiuk president of CUPE 1623, representing about 1200 staff at the Sudbury regional hospital, along with Hurley will provide Sudbury media with an update on the contract talks, which began in June. The media briefing will take place at the CUPE 1623 office, 888 Regent St Unit #205.

Negotiations between CUPE and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) broke off on September 21 after the hospitals “refused to budge on even the most simple items around workplace violence” specifically:

• Agreement between the hospitals and the union that a workplace free of violent behaviour is a shared goal;
• Having all hospitals post signs indicating that violent behaviour would not be tolerated;
• That the hospitals and the union make a joint request to government for the funding needed to make hospitals safer by investing in flagging systems for violent patients; and staffing up areas where staff work alone and are vulnerable to assault (like psychiatry); improving reporting between police and corrections and other healthcare facilities and the hospitals about violent patients.

“We think that a hospital that refuses to accept violence against patients and staff would be in everyone’s interest, wouldn’t it?” Asks, Hurley.

OCHU/CUPE represents nurses, cleaners and dietary, administrative and trades staff at 120 hospital sites in communities across Ontario.

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For more information please contact:

Michael Hurley                        President OCHU                                 416.884.0770

Dave Shelefontiuk                  President CUPE 1623                                    705.929.8457

Stella Yeadon                          CUPE Communications                     416.559.9300

LUFA has been working tirelessly to negotiate a fair collective agreement that supports its members and offers high-quality education for students at the University.

LUFA presented the university with an offer last night to reach a deal and avert a strike. Rather than responding to the offer, the university left the negotiations and sent a general public announcement just before 11:00pm stating that an impasse had been reached.

LUFA is asking the administration for a fair settlement that addresses faculty concerns by:

• re-investing in research and the classroom, including a fair faculty workload;
• increasing the openness and transparency with which the university operates; and
• protecting and promoting a positive, enriching learning environment for our students.

CUPE Ontario members in the University sector know this fight all too well. During every round of bargaining our members continue to fight for fair collective agreements that help staff and students alike.

No matter the union, no matter the university, concessions are a big problem across the sector. Thousands of our University members have boldly and bravely walked the line to stand up against austerity and fight for fairness for us and for the students we work with every day.

We know that education workers would rather be in the classroom but when the employer forces a strike we will not back down. We support the faculty at Laurentian who are committed to strike for as long as it takes to demand better from the University.

We encourage all CUPE Ontario members to show solidarity and join the LUFA picket line on campus. You can also email the President of Laurentian University Pierre Zundel at pzundel@laurentian.ca, or the VP of Finance Carol McAulay, CMcAulay@laurentian.ca to demand fairness for LUFA.

This is the fourth year in a row that CUPE 543 has teamed up with the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association (WEFBA) to organize ‘Operation Giveback.’

Beginning Friday, Thanksgiving hampers containing a turkey (for families) or a chicken (for single residents), reusable grocery and insulated thermos bags, along with carrots, potatoes, onions, stuffing, apples, cookies and a bag of candy for families with children, will be distributed at 10 locations throughout the City of Windsor. The main distribution point will be the Unemployed Help Centre (6955 Cantelon Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3J9), starting at 10:00 a.m. and running until 3:30 p.m.

"Our community has faced some challenges this year, especially with the flooding that occurred in the summer, and even though we bounced back, as we always do, there are still many who could use a little extra help to have a great Thanksgiving,” said Mark Vander Voort, President of CUPE 543.

"Our members know how special Thanksgiving dinner is for many families and they believe that no one should have to forgo this opportunity to get together in celebration,” he added. “That is why we are working together with community organizations and local farmers to provide over 7.6 tonnes of food that will go towards creating a happy Thanksgiving for families who need a helping hand,” he added.

"We are so grateful for community support we've received for 'Operation Giveback;' in particular, Pier C Farms in Leamington, which donated the onions and carrots, and Kennette Orchard in Lakeshore for their generous apple donation, and Todd Stevenson and James Lea from the Real Canadian Superstore in Leamington," said Vander Voort, “they’ve been an immense help to all of us.”

Vander Voort will be on hand at the Unemployed Help Centre on Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

CUPE 543 represents more than 1,500 dedicated public service workers in Windsor, including the City of Windsor inside workers, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, ABC Day Nursery of Windsor, Windsor Occupational Health Information Service, Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation, Prism Berlie and Great Beginnings Child Centered Co-operative.

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Mark Vander Voort, CUPE 543 President, 519-903-5515

Matthew Stella, CUPE Communications, 613-252-4377

The WSIB’s new Chronic Mental Stress Policy, released on the Friday before the Thanksgiving weekend, says that if a worker’s job is confirmed as a significant contributor to their chronic mental stress but is not considered to be greater than another factor, the worker won’t qualify for compensation.

“Chronic work-related stress is very real and it is on the rise. Workers need to know they are protected,” said Hahn. “The WSIB is turning their back on their responsibility to Ontario workers and this can’t be allowed to stand.”

“When all Canadians are being asked to stop denying the mental health challenges faced by so many, it is shockingly disappointing that the WISB would persist in perpetuating that denial,” said Hahn.

CUPE Ontario and its Injured Workers Advocacy Committee add their voices to those of the Ontario Federation of Labour and injured workers organizations across Ontario, insisting the WSIB fix its new chronic mental stress policy.

“We call on Minister Flynn to direct the WSIB to uphold the widely acknowledged approach to compensate where the workplace experience is a ‘significant contributing factor,’ to a worker’s chronic mental stress,” said Mike Bryck, chair of CUPE Ontario’s Injured Workers Advocacy committee. “The WSIB led us to believe this is what they were going to do and it’s what workers desperately need.”

“Today’s policy is just not good enough for Ontario workers in 2017. The Ministry of Labour is ultimately responsible for WSIB and we expect them to do better,” Hahn said. “I strongly hope that Minister Flynn is as disappointed as we are and will make clear to the WSIB that he expects them to fix the policy immediately.”

“Policies like this are made by those at the top of the WSIB, who don’t have to work directly on the cases of injured workers,” Hahn pointed out. “For the caseworkers on the front lines, being forced to deny compensation to injured workers is horrible and stress inducing experience.”

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For more information, contact:

Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca                                                                                                         cope491:djk

TORONTO, ON – Thousands of CUPE members from coast to coast to coast voted to strengthen their bargaining power by changing CUPE’s strike pay to begin on the first day of a strike or lockout.

“This historic change goes hand in hand with our members’ clear decision to put their employers on notice; in CUPE, we will not accept concessions,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, general vice-president to the national board. “After years of cutbacks, increased workloads, stagnant wages, and cuts to services, our members, and the people they serve, deserve better.  That’s why CUPE members are only interested in bargaining forward, making gains for our collective future. Strengthening our strike pay provisions shows we mean business.”

Ontario workers have been under attack for decades. CUPE implemented its new Bargain Forward policy earlier this year. The Convention’s decision to implement strike pay from day one of a strike or lockout is just one tool to support the new policy that’s been developed to give locals what they need to succeed at the bargaining table.

“Workers in Ontario have been accepting less, while those at the top keep lining their pockets with more money,” said Candace Rennick, CUPE Ontario’s secretary-treasurer and regional vice- president to the national board. “Our members have said enough is enough. They’re sending a clear message. If you’re coming after us, we’re going to be ready and we’re going to fight back.”

With over 1000 collective agreements in Ontario, CUPE is in bargaining every day. Strikes are incredibly rare, but over the last year, the union has had more strikes and lockouts than at any point in its history.

“No worker ever wants to go on strike, but it is the ultimate tool that unionized workers have to defend what previous generations have built and to make things better for future generations,” said Hahn. “But if a strike becomes necessary – I’m very proud that our union has made it clear that our members no longer have to wait for picket pay. Workers will get the support they need immediately to fight back and win.”

For more information, please contact:

Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

COPE491/EW

These workers are teaching the skills our young people need to succeed in the world. Their work matters to the future of this province.

Currently, 81 percent of courses in Ontario’s colleges are taught by contract faculty. This isn’t good for the instructors and it certainly isn’t good for students who deserve instructors who can afford to stick around and provide consistent, high quality education.

These important educators are asking for the colleges to cap contract faculty levels at 50 percent and provide a minimum one-year contract for all contract faculty. This is only fair.

It’s our hope that the colleges will see the light and negotiate a fair deal with their contract faculty. If the colleges fail and they are forced to go on strike, the members of OPSEU 560 can count on the members of CUPE Ontario to join them on their line. Our 260,000 members have got your back!

Library workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), will hold Library Week celebrations in communities across Ontario, highlighting the important role libraries play in enhancing the quality of life for all residents, as well as the vital role library workers play in making libraries cherished institutions in the communities they serve.

A full list of communities where CUPE Locals are holding events is below.

Media wishing to cover this event are encouraged to contact Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, at 416-821-6641 for locations, times, and further information.

WHAT:  Library Week celebration with CUPE Locals across Ontario

WHO:     CUPE library workers and community supporters

WHEN:  Throughout the week of October 15-21 (Ontario Public Library Week) as listed below:

Barrie Public Library (CUPE 905)

Cobourg Public Library (CUPE 25)

Cornwall Public Library (CUPE 3251-01)

Fort Erie Public Library (CUPE 2023)

Hamilton Public Library (CUPE 932)

Lambton-Kent District School Board *(CUPE 1238)

Mississauga Library System (CUPE 1989)

North Bay Public Library (CUPE 122-02)

Peterborough Public Library (CUPE 1883)

St. Catharines Public Library (CUPE 2220)

Toronto Public Library (CUPE 4948)

Windsor Public Library (CUPE 2067)

*CUPE 1238 will be hosting their event on Monday, October 23.

WHY:     To celebrate Ontario Public Library Week which takes place October 15 to 21, 2017

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For more information, please contact:

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

“Violence against hospital staff is real and rampant. But preventing workplace violence begins with acknowledging that it’s a problem. That’s something that, unfortunately, for both staff and patients, Ontario hospital employers have refused to do in recent contract negotiations,” says Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario.

Today, the union begins a major campaign in support of its 27,000-member central hospital bargaining group’s demands for concrete steps towards ending the crisis of violent attacks against hospital staff by patients and family members. Radio, television and social media advertising, media conferences by hospital staff disabled in attacks at work, the release of a major study in partnership with a university, and an escalating campaign of actions by its members will unfold over the next few months.

The union broke off contract talks on September 21, when the hospitals “refused to agree that we share a common goal of a workplace free of violence. The hospitals also refused to agree to post signs to indicate that violence in the hospitals would not be tolerated. And the hospitals refused to write a letter to the government asking for an investment to make hospitals’ staff safer from violent assault,” says Hurley.

Despite all the evidence that staff are working in an environment where physical, sexual and verbal aggression are too frequently experienced, Hurley says, “the hospitals won’t budge on even the most fundamental issues and that is just unacceptable. We cannot allow this to continue. Our members have given us a resolute mandate to push the hospitals as far as we have to until we conclude an agreement that makes real progress on violence.”

The union has welcomed the statement of the minister of health, who, when asked in the Legislature recently about hospital sector bargaining and the issue of violence specifically, indicated that the government would invest to make the workplace safer, if it were asked.

OCHU/CUPE is calling on the provincial government to amend both the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Public Hospitals Act to provide protection for employees who report or speak out about workplace violence. These proposed amendments are necessary, the union says, after North Bay Regional Health Centre fired a nurse in 2016 who spoke up about the general problem of violence.

To listen to OCHU/CUPE’s radio advertising, read amendments to legislation and other important information about violence in hospitals, please go to: www.epidemicofviolence.ca.

“The hospital workforce is mostly female. So, the hospital employers’ attitude is even more concerning. We continue to remind them that hospitals that are dangerous for staff to work in are also dangerous for patients. Increased staffing, in areas like psychiatry, and improved alarm, flagging and reporting systems, are all needed,” says Sharon Richer, OCHU Secretary-Treasurer.

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For more information, please contact:

Michael Hurley, President, OCHU, 416-884-0770

Sharon Richer, Secretary-Treasurer, OCHU, 705-280-0911

Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications, 416-559-9300

COPE491/EW

In advance of the Bill’s Second Reading on November 2, Peterborough’s citizens have been invited to attend a community town hall to learn how they can help ensure the Bill’s passage into law, which would establish in law a personal care standard for residents of Ontario’s nursing homes.

“At the moment, Ontario residents in long-term care receive less direct, hands-on care from nursing and support staff than in virtually any other province,” said Candace Rennick, a former long-term care worker and Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Ontario; the union organized Tuesday evening’s event. “The Time to Care Act is our chance to change that. And I know that Peterborough’s citizens will do everything they can to help to make this long-cherished dream a reality.”

Who:          Members and supporters of the Time to Care Bill, which mandates a legal minimum of four hours of care each day for long-term care residents.

What:         Time to Care community town hall: information session about ways to support the Time to Care Bill as it reaches Second Reading in the Ontario legislature on November 2

When:        Tuesday, October 17, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Where:       Holiday Inn hotel, 150 George Street, Peterborough Ontario

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For more information, visit www.timetocareontario.ca or contact:

Candace Rennick, Secretary-Treasurer, CUPE Ontario, 416-799-5109
Mary Unan, CUPE Communications, 647-390-9839

AURORA, ON – Public library workers in York Region, members of Local 905 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 905), and their supporters, are celebrating Ontario Public Library Week with a message that, in addition to having great patrons, great libraries depend on great workers.

“We’re very proud of the relationship we have developed with our patrons in the community,” said CUPE 905 spokesperson Hamid Osman.

Earlier in the day, library workers handed out buttons, postcards and other items at the Aurora Public Library to commemorate Public Library Week, which began October 15 and runs until October 21. Similar events will take place tomorrow in New Tecumseth and, tentatively, on Thursday, in Georgina.

Since 1985, Public Library Week has highlighted the vital contributions that public libraries make towards enhancing the quality of life for residents in the communities they serve. Across the province, CUPE library workers are marking the week with celebrations scheduled in 12 different communities.

Public Library Week is also an important opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of ensuring libraries and library workers have the resources and tools to serve their communities, while providing important services and good jobs, said CUPE Ontario Library Committee Chair Maureen O’Reilly.

“Libraries are a vital thread in the fabric of our communities. They help make our neighbourhoods great places to live in. However, the key ingredient to a great library is great people, which is why it is so important to take a moment to pay tribute to all the great library workers across Ontario,” she said.

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For information, please contact:

Hamid Osman, CUPE 905 spokesperson, 647-448-2823

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

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