In Ontario, Health care workers are denied the right to strike. The Healthcare Labour Relations Dispute Arbitration Act (HLDAA) prohibits unionized workers from taking strike action. Healthcare employers have long used this legislation to delay, obfuscate, and ignore the legitimate needs of workers. Employers will often disengage from the bargaining process entirely, opting to wait for an interest arbitration hearing to rule on the terms of the new agreement. These arbitration dates can take years, cost tens of thousands of dollars, and often leave important issues unresolved.
CUPE is Canada’s largest union, representing over 800,000 workers across the country. In Ontario, CUPE represents over 90,000 healthcare workers, including over 30,000 long-term care and retirement home workers. The eight CUPE locals represented at the Extendicare Central table are fighting to end long-standing issues with staffing levels, workloads, and health and safety issues that run rampant in every long-term care facility.
CUPE’s Extendicare central bargaining table isn’t just one other group of long-term care workers waiting for a contract. For the past 8 years, arbitrators, unions, and employers have looked to CUPE’s Extendicare central table agreement as the precedent setting the pattern in the sector for wages. The employer, and other employers in the sector, are hoping to break this pattern. Over 1100 CUPE members represented by the eight central table locals are fighting back. We might not have the right to strike, but we can still fight for our rights.
The Locals:
CUPE 1182 represents 280 workers at Extendicare York in Sudbury.
CUPE 1307 represents 290 workers at Crossing Bridge in Stittsville.
CUPE 1394 represents 302 workers at Extendicare Bayview in North York
CUPE 2770 represents 298 workers at Extendicare’s Laurier Manor in Ottawa.
CUPE 2951 represents 70 workers at Extendicare Tri-Town in Temiskaming Shores.
CUPE 3127 represents 200 workers at Extendicare in Timmins.
CUPE 3128 represents 75 workers at Extendicare in Kapuskasing.
CUPE 4788 represents 275 workers at Extendicare in Oshawa.