Our province is facing its worst public health crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two years ago. Health care providers are describing it as a “full-blown emergency.” Schools aren’t equipped to protect students and education workers. Most Ontarians still don’t have access to paid sick days.

And the situation is getting worse with each passing day.

There is a dire need for a historic investment in our public services – health, education, and others – to deal with the ravages of this wave and to finally put in place measures to help prevent and mitigate the next one. Yet at every stage of the pandemic, Doug Ford’s government has failed to protect workers and keep our communities safe. It didn’t have to be this way.

This Saturday, the Ontario Federation of Labour will be hosting a province-wide emergency day of action to hold the Ford government accountable.

The action will take place online and is only one hour. Click here to sign up.

In the first part of the meeting, front-line workers in health care, education, and other sectors will let us know the scale of the crisis we’re facing.

In the second part of the meeting, activists will take action in a province-wide Phone Zap of Doug Ford and his government. We will make our demands loud and clear:

Recall the legislature for an emergency session to address the deepening public health crisis facing Ontarians.
Repeal Bill 124, one of the largest contributing factors to the unprecedented staffing crisis in our health care system.
Legislate a minimum of ten permanent employer-paid sick days for all workers in the province, and ensure an additional 14 paid sick days during the pandemic. Workers who contract COVID at work must also have greater access to WSIB support.
Hold an emergency summit of all stakeholders in the health care system and develop a rapid response plan to hire the tens of thousands of health care workers required to address the staffing crisis. In the long term, Ontario requires a strategy to address the chronic underfunding of health care and other public services.
Require health care and educational institutions to provide airborne precautions to staff, patients, residents, and students. Extend the same protections to frontline workers in grocery stores, food service, transit, and other essential sectors.
Launch an emergency public health campaign to communicate the urgency of the situation facing Ontarians and build broad public support for a comprehensive public health strategy.

This action is just the start of a bigger fight-back. We encourage all of you to join.

And if you’re as angry as we are about what’s happening in Ontario right now, be sure to invite your family, friends, and co-workers. Every voice will make a difference.

CUPE Ontario Vaccination Town Hall Meeting

September 9, 2021September 9, 2021

Join CUPE leaders, experts, and staff for a Zoom town hall about employer vaccine policies at 6:30pm this Monday, September 13th.

We will be joined by CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick, CUPE National Health and Safety Representative Paul Sylvestre, infectious disease expert Dr. Tara Moriarty, and Goldblatt Partners lawyer Daniel Sheppard.

The townhall is open to all CUPE Ontario members and will provide opportunities to ask questions.

Please note we will be offering simultaneous French interpretation.

Click here to register.

Response to Mandatory Vaccinations

August 11, 2021

In response to the discussion at the August 10, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting regarding mandatory vaccine responses, we have forwarded the limited information available on Council’s stance to CUPE to review.

CUPE 1883 encourages members to get COVID-19 vaccines that have been proven safe and effective. According to the World Health Organization, the most effective vaccination programs are voluntary and not coercive. Some workers cannot be vaccinated for medical and religious reasons and these workers are protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code and must be accommodated.

Anyone who is not vaccinated must have an employer-provided opportunity to talk with a clinician about any concerns that they have about vaccination and to hear directly why vaccination is safer for them and for their families, and their coworkers, and where applicable, for service recipients they work with.