WALKERTON – Healthcare workers represented by Unifor Local 2458 at Brucelea Haven, a home for the aged in Walkerton, are not surprised by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Compliance Officers Report on the living and working conditions at the home.
“For months now workers have raised the issue of lack of adequate staffing to the employer, including holding a rally in front of the home on May 16,” said Tullio DiPonti, President Unifor Local 2458. “Our members will always put the residents first, and risk burnout to work hundreds of hours of overtime, yet they still work short 95% of the time. If the employer had listened to the repeated warnings of workers, residents and families to increase staffing levels, I believe these tragic incidents could have been avoided.”
General Motors Canada says it will invest $170 million in its Oshawa, Ont., plant to transition the facility from manufacturing vehicles to stamping, sub-assembly and autonomous vehicle testing.
GM Canada president Travis Hester says the move will save 300 of 2,600 union jobs at the plant.
Hester made the announcement this morning in Toronto alongside Unifor national president Jerry Dias at a news conference. He said the transformed plant will have the potential to grow and attract more jobs as the facility attracts new customers.
TORONTO, May 3, 2019 /CNW/ – With the provincial government making sweeping reforms to the health system, politicians from all parties will join registered nurses (RN) and nurse practitioners (NP) on the front lines to learn about what works, what needs improvement and the pivotal role nurses play in keeping Ontarians healthy.
The visits by elected representatives comes at a crucial time as Minister of Health and Long Term Care Christine Elliott re-shapes how health care is provided and how the health system is overseen. Those changes are intended to streamline access, break down silos and place the focus more squarely on the needs of patients.
The Windsor Essex County Health Unit has accepted a meeting with a provincial conciliator for Tuesday morning.
The WECHU tweeted Friday that the Ontario Nurses Association had not requested further meetings or arbitration with the health unit.
Public health nurses have been off the job since March 8. In early April, the union rejected a final offer from the health unit, saying the employer did not offer any meaningful improvements.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has accepted a request from the mediator appointed by the province to attend a meeting next week with the nurses’ union.
Theresa Marentette, CEO and chief nursing officer of the health unit, says she hopes the Ontario Nurses Association accepts this meeting.
She says they look forward to a productive and informative discussion regarding the current labour disruption.
TORONTO, April 23, 2019 /CNW/ – Unifor opens negotiations with ten Extendicare owned nursing homes this week and is prioritizing addressing the poor working conditions that lead to a massive shortage of personal support workers across the province.
“The expectations placed on front-line caregivers in long-term care are not only shocking but alarming and dangerous,” said Jerry Dias Unifor National President.
Officials at Windsor Regional Hospital say 80 jobs will be lost in an effort to balance their budget.
Hospital CEO David Musyj says most of the staff impacted by the losses will be in the housekeeping and food services departments.
Musyj tells CTV Windsor 20 people have already been let go, and they will now look at achieving the other savings through attrition and retirement options.
Musyj admits a cut to housekeeping may mean longer wait times for patients to get a bed, but he insists the job losses will not affect front line clinical care.
“No clinical services will be negatively impacted one iota,” says Musyj. “From a patients perspective, nothing is going to change.”
Unifor leaders are in shock after Fiat Chrysler announced they are cutting the third shift at Windsor Assembly Plant this fall.
Unifor president Jerry Dias told CTV News Channel Friday that the union knew that sales were “softening,” but the move by Chrysler was a surprise.
“This is pretty drastic,” he said, adding that conversations with Chrysler had been positive even up until last week. “There was no indication that they were going to do something this dramatic.”
The company had “always talked about” adding another vehicle to the production line at the Windsor plant to deal with declining sales, he said. In 2015, the plant underwent $2-billion in upgrades to start building the Chrysler Pacifica. The upgrades installed give the plant “a lot of options” for what it can produce beyond the minivans, said Dias.
Thousands of employees will be affected by a temporary plant closure in Brampton.
After that announcement, FCA announced that it would be eliminating Windsor Assembly Plant jobs.