Today: Community Health Workers Rally to Combat Severe Underfunding and Understaffing at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today community health care workers at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC) will rally to demand that their employer address the severe underfunding and understaffing crisis at the centre.

After more than eight months at the bargaining table, SRCHC management still refuses to offer members of CUPE Local 5399 a real wage increase.

For years, community health care workers at the centre have experienced extremely stressful working conditions, battling a crisis in staffing and impossibly high workload. The SRCHC is a cherished health and community care hub where social workers, registered dietitians, physiotherapists, clerical, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and community health workers provide essential health care and social and community outreach services to Toronto’s east-end residents.

Members of CUPE 5399, which represents over 120 health care workers at SRCHC, voted 92 per cent in favour of strike action if concrete measures are not taken to improve their ability to better serve the residents who rely on them. If a deal cannot be reached, the local will hit the picket line on November 1.

Members of Local 5399 and community allies will rally in front of the centre at 5:30pm. Speakers will include CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick, as well as SRCHC and Regent Park community health care workers.

Workers are asking members of the public who cannot attend to send a message of support: cupe.on.ca/fairwagesforsrchc

QUOTES

The Ford government’s underfunding of social services and health care across the province has peaked in their attacks on Community Health Centres and the critical services they provide to vulnerable Ontarians. It’s an attack on workers but also an attack on people who are simply looking for some assistance and care as they struggle with affordability, the lack of adequate housing and the hunger games of Ontario’s health care system. – JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO

“The workers of South Riverdale have spoken loud and clear, and now it’s crunch time. SRCHC is sleepwalking its way towards a strike, but everyone knows how these matters get resolved: with more money for workers. Services at SRCHC are already deeply affected by low wages, which are at the root of high staff turnover and the centre’s inability to hire and keep staff. The members of CUPE 5399 want to be able to afford to work at the jobs they love, the jobs that support the community of South Riverdale. They need a partner in their employer and they need the Ford government to step up with proper funding for community health services.” Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario

“A recruitment and retention crisis in the health care sector is very acutely playing out at SRCHC. Our expectation is to reach a fair contract that reflects our priorities, and that allows South Riverdale workers to proceed with their work in dignity and respect. We need a wage and benefit increase that helps address the SRCHC staffing crisis, so that workers can more safely and effectively continue this important work.” – Debby Yuke, President of CUPE Local 5399

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

• 65 per cent of SRCHC workers struggle to pay their rent or mortgage, heating, car payments and student debt
• Over half of their members have had to cut back on food costs in the last year
• One in three SRCHC workers are working extra jobs to make ends meet
• Ninety-eight percent have experienced increased stress and worsened mental health due to understaffing and the resulting increased workload
• 42 percent of the centre's workers have resigned in the last two years

Where:	955 Queen St. East
When:	October 22, 5:30 PM
Who:	Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario President JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President Jess Lyons, RN, member of CUPE Local 5399 Stephanie Myers, Vice President of OPSEU Local 5115 Connie Ndlovu, PSW, President of CUPE Local 7797 Frontline community health care workers

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