WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) are launching a public awareness campaign against the Reopening Ontario Act.
Part of it will include “22 regional rallies at PC MPP constituency offices across Ontario,” according to CUPE president Fred Hahn.
The unions say Bill 195 has stripped workers of their negotiated collective agreement rights.
It allows employers to “change people’s shifts from days to nights, reassign people to a different job, relocate workers to a different community, lay people off without any notice, they even have the right to cancel parental leaves, all of this can happen at the discretion of the employer,” according to Hahn.
Michael Hurley, president of OCHU says people “who the government so glibly called heroes are bewildered and frustrated and angry.”
The Leamington rally will be on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. in front of MPP Rick Nicholls office.
In the meantime, the leaders are asking their members to “take action” on Thursdays.
“In their workplaces, members are encouraged to print off campaign posters and take selfies or group photos to show their support for the campaign and to help spread the word,” says Hahn.
Travis Kann, a spokesperson for Minister of Health Christine Elliott, tells CTV News in an email that the government is preparing for “future waves” of the virus this fall and Bill 195 is necessary part of that, because he says it provides flexibility to employers if they need to react.
“For example, under normal circumstances a hospital would be required to post a lay-off notice and wait a period of time before being able to move a nurse or other unionized employee from an emergency department to a COVID-19 assessment centre. Bill 195 allows for the redeployment of staff to address the containment of COVID-19 without restriction or delay,” says Kann.
Spokesperson for Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare Bill Marra says they understand the rationale behind Bill 195, but would only use it as a measure of last resort.
“We could be working in this environment for the next couple of years, perhaps a little longer, perhaps a little shorter,” he says and Marra believes causing distressing changes to an employees working life over the short term will cause irreparable damage to their labour relations in the long term.
“Personal lives have been impacted so we're always seeking out ways we can support our people so that they can manage their personal lives and their families while at the same time continue our operations and to take care of our patients,” says Marra.
