MEDIA ADVISORY: Privatization will increase risk of superbug infections, warn hospital workers ahead of rally on Wednesday at Etobicoke General Hospital

Event Information

Begins: 5 June 2024
Location: Etobicoke, ON

CUPE 145 hospital workers will rally at 11:30am to protest hospital’s plan to contract out cleaning, portering, waste management and laundry services

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– Privatization will increase risk of superbug infections, warn hospital workers ahead of rally on Wednesday at Etobicoke General Hospital.

CUPE 145 will be holding a rally on Wednesday at 11:30am at Etobicoke General Hospital, to protest the privatization of housekeeping, portering, waste management and linen services impacting 215 jobs.

The union says these services must be kept in-house to maintain effective infection control practices and smooth flow of operations. Handing over these services to a private, for-profit firm would worsen overcrowding and undermine hygiene at the hospital, as contractors skimp on staffing and training costs to maximize revenues.

In 2017, CUPE released a research report showing a co-relation between contracting out of housekeeping services at hospitals and increased risk of hospital acquired infections and deaths.

The report cited the failed experimentation of privatizing housekeeping in Ontario and other jurisdictions and the benefits of keeping services in-house. In Scottish hospitals, the prevalence of the superbug C. difficile was reduced by 37 per cent after ending for-profit delivery of hospital housekeeping.

“There is no rhyme or reason for privatizing these services. Hospital management should be campaigning for more resources, not finding ways to cut costs that will cause more disease and death. It’s unconscionable for William Osler to choose this path,” said Erica Young, president of CUPE 145.

WHO:
Hospital workers at Etobicoke General led by Erica Young, president of CUPE 145; Michael Hurley, president of OCHU/CUPE; and Sharon Richer, secretary-treasurer of OCHU/CUPE. 

WHAT:
CUPE 145 rally against privatization of key support services at Etobicoke General Hospital

WHEN:
11:30 a.m. on Wednesday June 5, 2024

WHERE:
Etobicoke General Hospital, 101 Humber College Blvd, Etobicoke, ON, M9V 1R8

-30-

For more information, contact:

Zaid Noorsumar, CUPE Communications Representative
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859