CUPE OH @Home Press Conference outside of the Ontario Legislature
In January 2024 CUPE OH @Home workers organized a media conference on the grounds of Queens Park right in front of the Ontario Legislature, urging the Employer to come back to the bargaining table and offer these workers an equitable wage increase.
Unit Vice President for Mississauga Halton OH @Home CUPE Local 966 Maxine Laing and OH @Home Representative for CUPE’s Health Care Workers Coordinating Committee Brett Geneau both spoke about the value of the services members deliver, how members are struggling to get by and how important it is that the government negotiate a fair and equitable wage increase. CUPE Ontario Secretary Treasurer Yolanda McLean joined them at the podium and provided her support.
Brett Geneau, Maxine Laing and Yolanda McLean presented four big signature boards with over 1700 petition signatures, calling on the Employer to offer CUPE OH @Home workers a fair wage increase and better working conditions. The signature boards were handed off to Ontario NDP MPPs, Jill Andrews and Jessica Bell, who presented them to the Ontario Legislature in late January.
Rally at the Treasury Board
In February 2024, over thirty CUPE OH @Home members drove across the province to Toronto to bargain with the Employer, but instead, members were offered the same insulting wage increase that they had been offered earlier in December. The central bargaining committee was disappointed and angry, but instead of heading home with nothing, they decided to make something out of it.
These members walked over to the Treasury Board’s office in downtown Toronto and protested for two hours. They brought signs, they chanted, and they brought attention to home care in Ontario.
Global News covered the protest and interviewed Brett Geneau. The segment was the main feature on Global Toronto’s 12pm news that day. The press release for the protest was published in the Financial Post, Yahoo News, and Morning Star.
CUPE OH @Home Province Wide Workers and Families Can’t Wait Campaign
Throughout the month of May 2024, home and community care workers across all OH @Home CUPE Locals brought over 1000 member-signatures to MPP offices across the province. They demonstrated remarkable worker power and solidarity, urging the Ford Government to come back to the bargaining table on May 24 ready to negotiate a fair wage increase in wage reopener negotiations!
Petition signatures were brought to MPPs in Windsor, Lindsay, Bowmanville, Orangeville, Etobicoke, Belleville, Nepean, Brampton and Streetsville and garnered a considerable amount of media attention, educating Ontarians about the important work OH @Home workers do, day in and day out. The actions were covered by CTV Windsor, Peterborough Examiner, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Orangeville Today and many other media outlets across Ontario.
