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Add Your Voice: Stop the creeping privatization in Healthcare
Healthcare is under attack. Conservative and Liberal governments are undermining our public healthcare system and opening the door to the private delivery of healthcare—weakening and undermining our healthcare system. The latest example is seen through the cancellation of hybrid work models to force workers to Return to the Office, which only benefits private real estate developers not workers or the communities we serve. Add your name to keep our healthcare public!
Conservative and Liberal provincial governments across Canada have systematically undermined our public healthcare system for years. Consecutive governments over the past decade have undermined the public delivery of healthcare services.
Restructuring, changing working conditions, and licensing out of public care to private providers threatens high-quality care for patients and threatens job security. But CUPE members are fighting back!
Add your name to the petition to stop the creep today!
Government reviewing office space in light of Return to Office order
CUPE’s member organizer Brett Geneau spoke with media about the Ford Government’s short-sighted return to office order.
Brett Geneau, with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the review would find the government needed more space.
“The real estate is not there, they have closed offices, they’ve sold off some of the real estate that they owned, they’ve stopped some of their leasing contracts,” he said.
“We can barely support the three days a week with our staff now.”
Thanks to the advocacy of CUPE members like you, the Ford government is now beginning a review of office space limitations across the Ontario public sector given its new return to office policy. We will continue to demand the government rethink their return to office policy at Ontario Health atHome and consult with CUPE members at Ontario Health atHome on this issue.
Doug Ford’s Return to Work order is a pathway to frustration for Ontario Health atHome workers
Toronto – Last week, Premier Doug Ford announced he is mandating all Ontario Public Service Agency and CommissionWorkers return to the office 5 days per week, starting in January. This policy, which was created with no consultation with workers and serves no meaningful purpose, s not only short-sighted, but also potentially fiscally irresponsible.
Since the pandemic, hybrid work has been the norm for the 1800 members serving Ontarians at Ontario Health atHome. This arrangement has been normalized as it enables them to maintain strong contact with one another while also allowing for workplace flexibility to help them manage their lives. The employer sold off many of the office buildings, meaning they no longer have the capacity to house all the staff back in the office.
Despite having 60% of the workforce in-office under the current hybrid model at any time, the organization is already struggling with a lack of office space available for the workers who are in the office. In the year since the pandemic, Ontario Health atHome has been restructured several times. There are already not enough work areas for the staff working from the office space that is available. Workers no longer have assigned workstations and haven’t for over one year. This desk hoteling means that several employees share one desk in some offices, making managing their work more difficult. Added to this, Ford’s government has also recently moved Ontario Health workers into Ontario Health atHome offices, which serves to compound this issue.
CUPE estimates that Ontario Health atHome will need at least two thirds more office space to meet this 100% in-office directive. Where will that office space come from? How does the government plan to pay for this rapid expansion? If the disastrous Wellesley-Bay redevelopment is any indication, the Ontario Taxpayers can expect further mismanagement, cost over-runs, and significant delays.
The Ford government needs to re-evaluate this policy. They must immediately ensure that enough space is available to meet the needs of the workers under the current 3-day per week model and commit to not spend extra money on real estate simply to implement its inflexible return to the office policy. We are calling on the Ford government to work with us to develop the most effective, efficient workplace plan that meets the needs of the employers and employees, one that will ensure OHAH can attract and retain the best workforce possible.
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For more information, contact:
Bill Chalupiak, Communications Officer
Canadian Union of Public Employees
wchalupiak@cupe.ca
416-707-1401
:pp/cope491
