By Cole Rockarts Today, October 26 2020, hundreds of members of the Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE) walked off the job to protest ongoing attacks on health care by Jason Kenney’s government. The key issues include job security against outsourcing, addressing short-staffing, and stopping the privatization of public healthcare. On October 13, Health Minister Continue readingWILDCAT! Major Alberta strike against healthcare cuts
healthcare
The new spokesperson for the health minister recently worked as a lobbyist for long-term care corporations
By Zaid Noorsumar The Ontario PC government of Premier Doug Ford has rejected the Official Opposition’s call to remove profits from the province’s home care sector. During the standing committee meetings for Bill 175 on Monday and Tuesday, the government struck down all of the amendments proposed by the opposition parties. The NDP proposed 19 Continue readingFord government defeats amendment to remove profits from home care
By Lisa Cameron Nova Scotia’s essential workers have been sustaining the province during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those on the front-line are Nova Scotia’s care professionals, whose employment requires that they jeopardize their health (and the health of their families) to tend to those most medically, financially, and structurally at risk. Care workers in Nova Continue reading“Now it is a disaster”: Nova Scotia long-term care worker speaks out
by Emily Leedham After two weeks of pressure from the Oshawa community, General Motors announced yesterday it would re-open a portion of the plant to manufacture one million masks per month for health care workers. Former Oshawa GM workers and health care workers held a joint-press conference on Thursday, April 9 demanding the Oshawa complex Continue reading“A great first step”: Workers respond to GM Oshawa plant conversion for PPE
Letter from a grocery store worker By Achilles* Ever since it broke out, the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world. It disrupted and pushed lives of many into a state of uncertainty. But for essential workers, the show must go on. I work at one of the grocery stores in Kingston, Ontario, owned by a Continue readingGrocery workers want better pay, not “heroes” label
by Emily Leedham To address the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment such as ventilators, workers are demanding former General Motors plant in Oshawa be converted to produce these supplies to support frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s a dire shortage of that equipment, it’s being rationed,” Michael Hurley, President Continue readingWorkers demand Oshawa GM plant converted to produce medical equipment
by Jon Milton Denyse Joseph is helping to manage a crisis team for her union. “We’re looking at everything that comes out each day, each hour, regarding this pandemic crisis,” she tells RankandFile.ca. “What are the measures the government is putting in place? Is it respecting the safety and security of our members?” Joseph is Continue readingCOVID-19: We Should Have Been Listening to Healthcare Workers
By Doug Nesbitt On Monday March 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered press conferences on the crisis only to confirm that it’s business as usual for these silver-spooned sons of comfort. Hopes for emergency safety net measures were dashed, along with the prospect of such measures counter-acting the spread of Continue readingFlatten the curve, flatten the boss
Carolina Jimenez from the Decent Work & Health Network discusses the fight for paid sick days, while Marika Prokosh talks fighting Winnipeg’s austerity budget during a pandemic. We also look at attacks on public health sector across the prairies that has left our public health care providers under staffed and under resourced.Can we wrestle wins Continue readingHow do we organize during a pandemic?
by Zaid Noorsumar About 100 frontline health care workers at a nursing home in Ontario are being denied wage increases by the Ford government even though the employer wants to pay them more. Service International Employees Union (SEIU) reached an agreement last summer with Mariann Home, a non-profit long-term care facility located in Richmond Hill. Continue readingFord invokes wage-cap law for long-term care workers
On Monday, August 19, Lethbridge City Council voted down a motion 6-3 calling for the provincial government to cut funding for a supervised consumption site called ARCHES. This came after community members in Lethbridge and across Alberta organized to send letters to city council and rallied outside city hall the day of the vote. Kym Continue readingA Victory for Lethbridge’s Supervised Consumption Site