-

Hospital workers to stage anti-privatization demonstration at Ottawa MPP’s constituency office on Monday in response to government expansion of private, for-profit healthcare services

Ford government to double private delivery of MRIs and CT scans

OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the Ford government’s plans to double private delivery of MRIs and CT scans, hospital workers will be protesting at Ontario PC MPP Lisa MacLeod’s constituency office in Ottawa on Monday morning.

“The Ford government says the status quo isn’t working – but it’s a status quo of their own making,” said Michael Hurley, President of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). “They have been underfunding and starving the public system and dangling privatization as a solution. But privatization is twice as expensive and comes with longer waiting lists. We are calling for real solutions to the hospital crisis, like concrete measures to attract and retain new staff and the addition of new beds.”

The union pointed out a recent Ontario Health Coalition report that found private clinics are illegally billing patients up to $8,000 for medically necessary services in violation of the Canada Health Act.

“Premier Ford famously claimed that Ontarians would never have to pay with their credit card, only their OHIP card. However, patients at for-profit clinics are being charged thousands of dollars,” said Sharon Richer, Secretary-Treasurer of OCHU/CUPE. “People have been told they can either pay for medically needed surgeries or face extreme wait times.”

The rally in Ottawa is part of a series of demonstrations the union is organizing across communities in Ontario, as private clinics receive record funding while public hospitals operate deficits.

Who:

 

Michael Hurley, President of OCHU/CUPE

 

Sharon Richer, Secretary-Treasurer of OCHU/CUPE

 

Judy Bain OCHU Northwestern Ontario Vice-President

What:

  Hospital workers rally at Ontario PC MPP Lisa MacLeod's constituency office.

When:

 

11:30 a.m., Monday, July 22nd.

Where:

 

250 B Greenbank Rd., Suite 222, Nepean, Ontario K2H 8X4.

gv/cope491

Contacts

For more information, contact:
Robert Murdoch
CUPE Communications
rmurdoch@cupe.ca
416-434-3690

Industry:

CUPE

Release Versions
English

Contacts

For more information, contact:
Robert Murdoch
CUPE Communications
rmurdoch@cupe.ca
416-434-3690

More News From CUPE

CUPE Ontario and Ontario NDP Challenge Conservatives’ Claims on Bill 60 and Water Privatization With Damning Legal Opinion

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ford Conservatives’ plan to privatize Ontario’s water was conclusively exposed today as leaders from CUPE Ontario and the Ontario NDP were joined by a lawyer from Goldblatt Partners LLP to release a legal opinion that reveals the true intent of Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025. CUPE Ontario commissioned a legal review of Schedule 16 of Bill 60 as part of the union’s fight against the Ford government’s plans to privatize publicly owned regiona...

CUPE’s largest Nova Scotian Nursing Home Local Votes to Strike

SYDNEY, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Workers from Harbourstone Enhanced Care, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1183, have voted 87% in favour of a strike mandate, making them the 39th CUPE long term care home to take this action. “As long-term care workers, we don’t do this job for the money or the praise, certainly not the notoriety—we do it because we genuinely care about the residents in these homes, about their families, and we want to do our part in making their lives...

Media Advisory - NSCAD Rally

HALIFAX, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Striking Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) workers and their allies are rallying tomorrow, March 13, at 11:00 AM outside NSCAD’s Fountain Campus at Granville Mall in Halifax. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3912 NSCAD Vice President Lachlan Sheldrick and CUPE 3912 President Lauren McKenzie will be available for interviews, along with striking workers, alumni, current undergraduate students, labour movement leaders, and other community su...
Back to Newsroom