Dear members,
May was an incredible month for CUPE HCCSS workers! You and your locals brought over a thousand of your members’ petition signatures to MPP offices across the province, demonstrating remarkable worker power and solidarity across locals.
These actions garnered a considerable amount of media attention and were featured on local radio stations, newspapers, online news and TV news channels.
Your member organizing and actions culminated in successful negotiations at the bargaining table on May 24.
You should all be incredibly proud of this work!
The reception at MPP offices varied widely. Some MPP offices accepted the petition signatures graciously and with open arms, while others locked their doors and hid inside their offices.
In Streetsville, staffers at MPP Nina Tangri’s office offered members of Local 966.15 coffee of tea and were very receptive. The staffers at MPP and Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones’ office couldn’t have been less receptive: they locked the doors, closed the blinds, and refused to meet members or accept the petition signatures.
HCCSS Workers and Families Can’t Wait petition signatures were brought to MPPs in Windsor, Lindsay, Bowmanville, Orangeville, Etobicoke , Belleville, Nepean, Brampton and Streetsville.
To culminate an excellent month of worker power, CUPE Ontario ran radio ads calling on the Ford government to respect CUPE HCCSS workers and come back to the bargaining table. These ads were featured on 28 stations across the province. You can listen to a clip of the on CKWF Wolf 101.5 FM in Peterborough here: Audio Link
Where we’re at in Bargaining
On May 24th CUPE HCCSS locals reached an agreement on the Bill 124 wage reopener which includes 2% for 2021, 3% for 2022 and 2023 inclusive of the 1% already received.
On June 7th, all 8 CUPE HCCSS local bargaining committees negotiated tentative agreements that will be presented to members in the coming weeks.
What’s next?
The upcoming ratification of CUPE HCCSS collective agreements will ensure some amount of stability through the coming months of Bill 135 restructuring, a time that will no doubt cause some amount of stress for many.
Once collective agreements are ratified by June 27, 2024, we will be resuming the province wide restructuring committee meetings to continue to share information across CUPE bargaining units and prepare for potential representation votes.
The last months have demonstrated more clearly than ever that CUPE HCCSS members are a force to be reckoned with: united we are stronger than ever!