Three unions representing thousands of hospital staff in the London area and beyond have joined forces in a rare tri-union coalition as part of an escalating campaign to have their concerns addressed in ongoing contract talks.
The coalition includes Unifor, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, and SEIU Healthcare. The three represent some 75,000 staff, nurses, PSWs, porters, administrative staff, and more, in 160 public hospitals across the province, said Nancy McMurphy, President of Unifor Local 302, which represents nearly 5,400 workers in several southwestern Ontario communities.
McMurphy said as part of the campaign, hospital workers from all three unions donned pins to work Wednesday reading “Together for Respect.” Workers have been working on an expired contract since last year.
“It’s very large, and it’s unique,” McMurphy said of the coalition. “This is certainly the first time that an alliance of this sort has ever been planned in my time in the union work, and that’s been for over 30 years.”
“The leadership of the three unions got together and said, you know, this is an opportunity for us to send a strong message of solidarity and a strong voice that we’re all experiencing the same issues, we’re all experiencing the same concerns.”
Those concerns, the unions say, include worsening patient-on-staff violence, chronic overcrowding, understaffing, and wages. They say that Ontario Hospital Association, which represents most of the province’s hospitals in the talks, has failed to address those concerns and has offered significant concessions.
McMurphy said workers are being attacked on an almost daily basis, including physically, sexually, and verbally, adding several staff members have been put onto “almost a permanent disability situation” as a result. She said they’ve been trying to get the issue to the forefront with the hospitals but to no avail.
“We’re just asking, simply, as our campaign banner says, for respect, and we’re forming an alliance together for respect for the workers,” McMurphy said. “We’re asking the employers to get back to the table and negotiate a fair collective agreement for the workers.”
Wednesday’s sticker campaign is just the start of the union’s campaign. Workplace rallies will be held at hospitals across the province on April 18.
In a statement, the Ontario Hospital Association said it values the hard work and dedication of its employees and expressed disappointment that negotiations with the unions reached an “impasse” last year.
The organization said it’s looking forward to resuming negotiations in meetings that have been set for April 21 and 22.
“The OHA has always been willing to talk to our union partners in an effort to reach an agreement that is fair and reasonable for hospital employees, while providing the best quality care to patients and reflecting the challenges facing the hospital sector today,” the statement said.
Ahead of those negotiations, on April 18, the unions plan to hold rallies at hospitals across the province.
With files from Kerri Breen, Mike Stubbs