Tories Must Ban Staffing Agencies, Not Simply Legislate Data Collection of Administrative and Billing Information

Union wants comprehensive staffing plan premised on fair compensation, good working conditions and a long-term recruitment strategy

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Union of Public Employees is urging the provincial government to ban the use of agency staff in Ontario's healthcare system.

This call follows the introduction of new legislation by the Ford government which the union says fails to address an escalating staffing crisis. The bill only requires health care staffing agencies to provide to the minister of health “aggregate administrative, billing or pay rate information.” The bill even leaves it to regulation to determine what information the government chooses to make public.

“The fact that the Tories have tabled this legislation shows that even they recognize the obscenity of staffing agencies profiting from health care via exorbitant fees,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, which represents nearly 50,000 hospital and long-term care staff in the province.

“But will this bill address the staffing crisis? No, simply having a more transparent system is not a fix. It doesn’t prevent agencies from poaching staff away from the public system and weakening morale. The government must phase out agencies out of health care profiteering and eventually enforce a permanent ban.”

CUPE is reiterating its demand for the government to develop a comprehensive staffing plan, which includes:

• Ban the use of agency nursing in Ontario’s health care sector by phasing them out over the next three years. In the interim period, CUPE recommends limiting wages of agency staff to within 10 per cent of in-house staff.
• Invest in permanent, full-time healthcare jobs that offer fair compensation.
• Address burnout and unsafe working conditions that are driving staff away, and provide incentives like on-site child care for the predominantly female workforce.
• Develop a robust healthcare recruitment strategy to attract talent, with financial incentives for nursing and PSW students, and expansion of college programs.

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