Together for Respect, a campaign led by three of Ontario’s largest unions including Unifor, organized its first workplace action, a Sticker Day on April 11, at hospitals across the province.
The action was the first joint mobilization that Unifor, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/Canadian Union of Public Employees (OCHU/CUPE), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) conducted since the trio union bargaining campaign was launched on March 27. Collectively the three unions are bargaining for 75,000 hospital workers, Unifor represents about 9,000 hospital workers in Ontario. Learn more about the campaign here or watch this short video.
“Union members and their colleagues are proudly sporting the Together for Respect stickers, showing their support for the campaign,” said Nancy McMurphy, President of local 302. “It's great to see that beyond members, other stakeholders, such as the Ontario Nurses' Association, are also taking part in the action.”
On Sticker Day, hospital staff across the province wore Together for Respect stickers to show their support for the joint union bargaining campaign. The three unions have joined together to demand respect from the employer and to negotiate a better deal for hospital staff at 160 hospitals across the province.
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), which represents the hospital employers’, has pushed for concessions that are unacceptable to the hospital staff since hospital staff offer excellent care in workplaces that are increasingly understaffed, over-crowded, and dangerous for workers.
The Together for Respect campaign will escalate mobilization action, with two more coordinated actions in the weeks to come. On April 18, rallies will be held in workplaces across the province to demonstrate workers’ solidarity with the bargaining teams and express their joint demands. Depending on the response of the OHA the unions may also hold job action workplace votes on May 2, if necessary.