MEDIA ADVISORY: “Stop the Home Care Chaos!:” Union leaders to hold media conference at Queens Park on Wednesday calling on the Progressive Conservative government to prioritize home and community care workers and services

CUPE, OPSEU & ONA say the government must strengthen home and community care, not tear it down. 

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– On Wednesday, union leaders from CUPE, ONA and OPSEU/SEFPO will call on the Progressive Conservative government to prioritize home and community care workers and the services they provide across Ontario.  

In just over a month, the Ford government’s Convenient Care Act will come into force, amalgamating all 14 Home and Community Care Support Service Organizations into one Shared Service Organization, further reforming an already broken system. Care assessments, care coordination, and provision of care are now all provided under this new regime. To date, the Ford government has failed to provide a clear path forward for this enormous transition.  

OPSEU, ONA and CUPE represent more than 7,000 members working in Home and Community Care Support Services.  

WHAT:
Stop the Home Care Chaos tri-union media conference organized by OPSEU, CUPE, & ONA  

WHO:
Erin Ariss, Provincial President of ONA; Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario; JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO. 

WHERE:
Queen’s Park Media Studio, 110 Wellesley St. W, Toronto 

WHEN:
Wednesday May 8, 2024 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.  

QUOTES 

“We cannot stand by as Doug Ford and his government cavalierly destroy yet another sector of Ontario’s health-care system.  As those on the front lines, we clearly see the pitfalls of Bill 135 and the devastating impact it will have.  Our front-line home-care workers do vital work caring for Ontarians and deserve the respect of this government.  Instead, Ford is throwing this sector into chaos once again and harming the very people who rely on it – our patients and clients.” – Erin Ariss, RN, Provincial President, Ontario Nurses’ Association 

“The Progressive Conservative government and their Convenient Care Act will further fracture an already broken system. Bill 135 perpetuates the fundamental problems in the health care sector and creates more uncertainty for home care workers. For years, CUPE and community health care advocates have called for an integrated and fully public health care system, where all workers receive fair wages and equitable working conditions. These changeswill further undermine and destabilize a home care system already under tremendous stress – we need to strengthen home and community care, not tear it down.” – Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario.

“This relentless push toward privatization in our healthcare system is splintering the very structures designed to ensure public health and safety – all in the relentless pursuit of corporate greed.  The latest casualty in Sylvia Jones and Doug Ford’s profit-driven scheme? Home care – a critical aspect of healthcare delivery relied upon by countless Ontarians.  Prioritizing profit over patient care is fundamentally flawed and it is destined to fail.  Patients and healthcare providers know better, and they deserve better.” – JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO 

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For media inquiries, contact: 

Shannon Carranco, CUPE Communications
scarranco@cupe.ca

Ontario Nurses’ Association
Media@ona.org 

OPSEU/SEFPO Communications
communications@opseu.org