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Unifor members rallied outside Belleville General Hospital this week after Quinte Health announced the elimination of 59 Personal Support Worker (PSW) and Health Care Aide positions across multiple hospital sites, a move the union says will further strain Ontario’s already overwhelmed health care system.
The layoffs affect workers at Belleville General Hospital and Trenton Memorial Hospital, where the employer plans to phase out some PSW positions over a five-month period.
According to information provided to the union, the cuts include 15 full-time PSWs, 27 part-time PSWs, 15 casual PSWs, and two temporary Health Care Aide positions.
“Health care workers are being pushed to the brink while governments continue to underfund the public system,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “We cannot cut our way out of a health care crisis. Canada needs every single health care professional we have, and we need more of them, not fewer. Workers and patients deserve a properly funded public health care system that values the people providing care.”
Unifor National President Lana Payne said the layoffs reflect a disturbing trend happening in hospitals across Canada as public health care systems struggle with chronic underfunding, staff stretched thin, and more resources are diverted into private health care.
Unifor Local 8300, which represents the affected workers, organized a rally outside the hospital to protest the cuts and what members describe as the creeping privatization of health care services.
“After 59 PSWs at Quinte Health received notice this week, these workers, and their colleagues, saw the urgent need to fight back and stand in solidarity with those impacted,” said Unifor Local 8300 President Kathleen Brooks. “Thank you to the Quinte Health PSWs and RPNs who showed up to protest the cuts, and privatization of our health care system, the very privatization that is compromising quality care across the country.”
PSWs play a critical role in patient care, assisting with daily needs of the people they care for to ensure dignity, safety, and quality of life for patients.
The union is also raising concerns that RPNs on affected floors are already stretched thin and that removing PSWs will increase workloads and reduce the number of staff available to care for patients. The employer has not provided specific information about hiring new employees, but indicated plans to have RPN’s cover the work done by PSWs.
Unifor will continue fighting to minimize the impacts of the layoffs and defend quality public health care services in the region and across the country.
Unifor members to take fight for public health care to Queen's Park
From May 25–29, Unifor leaders and frontline health care workers will head to Queen’s Park to meet directly with elected officials and demand action on staffing, funding, and the future of public health care. On May 28 at noon, Unifor is teaming up with the Ontario Health Coalition for a massive march from Union Station in downtown Toronto to Queen’s Park where the protest will take place.
To register and learn more about the May 28 protest and march, visit www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca.
