The Ontario Council Of Hospital Unions represents over 30,000 healthcare workers in Ontario and is working to defend health services in every community.
OCHU's Top Stories
If three jumbo jets crash, killing 1153 people every week, would government act?
That’s how many patients die weekly due to the epidemic of medical errors - May 10 2012OTTAWA, ON - Research shows that 18 per cent of Canadian patients entering hospitals – 552,000 of them – experience harm, and between 56,000 and 63,000 (the equivalent of three jumbo jets crashing, killing all on board, every week) will die from a medical error or hospital-acquired infection, said the authors of a book that looks at the systemic causes of preventable hospital deaths, at an Ottawa media conference today. Medical errors include medication mistakes, misdiagnoses and unnecessary surgeries, as well as hospital-acquired infections...read more
Ontario Liberal’s Victorian approach to deficit cutting: keep the rich fed to bursting, let the poor starve
In presenting a budget that cuts funding for public services, throws more Ontarians out of work and grows inequality by freezing social assistance rates “this Liberal government is continuing the escalating attack on the poor which began in earnest in 1995 when the Mike Harris Conservatives cut social assistance rates by over 20 per cent,” said Michael Hurley, the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE (OCHU).
...Click here to continue reading
CBC Marketplace - Dirty Hospitals
Canada has the highest rate of hospital acquired infections in the developed world, and Canada's consumer watchdog wants to know why.Erica Johnson puts hospital cleanliness to the test, and finds a mess that is making you sick. With hidden cameras, including Canada's first hidden camera glo gel test, insider interviews and expert opinions, Marketplace uncovers why people in Canadian hospitals are too often getting sicker instead of better.
Note: Marketplace went inside eleven hospitals in Ontario and British Columbia. We decided to only name the Niagara region hospitals because that is where there was a major C. difficile outbreak last year, that is where Gary Ball died, and those are the hospitals Dr. Kevin Smith supervises. Watch the episode...
Drummond report gives Liberals cover they need to move away from public health care
TORONTO, ON – Today’s release of the Don Drummond report on the review of Ontario’s public services is chapter one in a move to privatize Ontario’s health care system, charges Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).By unbundling medical procedures currently available through public hospitals into a patchwork of private clinics and pushing patients into a home care system where 10,000 Ontarians are already waiting for supports, the Liberals are setting the stage for health care privatization chapter two down the road. ...get details
Local Issues Award released for hospital local unions participating in OCHU/CUPE central bargaining
The hearings on coordinated issues were held on October 20 and November 2, 2010,at Toronto, followed by local hearings across the province and by executive sessions once the hearings on local issues were completed. The last executive session held thus far took place on October 15, 2011.
...read more
Join the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and Ontario Council of Hospital Unions at Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts 2012...
Poverty and Health: The Special Diet is a short video on the affects of poverty on health and specifically the provincial social assistance benefit known as the Special Diet Allowance that was recently gutted by the provincial government. It highlights the voices of people on social assistance, as well as frontline workers in the healthcare sector. The video is a joint project produced by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and was made to support the Raise the Rates campaign to demand a raise in welfare (Ontario Works) and disability (ODSP) rates in the province of Ontario.read more...Enter the name for this tabbed section: Hotline Tour
Pushed out of hospital while still acutely ill?
Call the hotline: 888-599-0770Patients who are acutely ill are being forced out of hospital.
Some are pushed into unregulated for-profit retirement homes which have no standards of care...Get full details
Enter the name for this tabbed section: HAI Tour and Conference
Provincial HAI Tour
Although medical experts are blaming hospital overcrowding (resulting from cuts to patient beds) for infection outbreaks – particularly outbreaks of antibiotic- resistant superbugs – the Ontario government plans to cut another 5,000 acute care beds province-wide. Currently, hospital bed occupancy is at record levels, over 97 per cent.Studies show that healthcare-associated infections kill between 8,000 and 12,000 Canadians a year – 40 per cent of these deaths are in Ontario.
“Many of these deaths are preventable. Ontario should follow the lead of countries where hospital acquired infections have been significantly reduced by pro-active measures,” says Sharon Richer, the Vice-President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
OCHU/CUPE’s mobile hospital room tour will be visiting 15 communities across central and southern Ontario beginning October 11. OCHU/CUPE represents 35,000 hospital workers province-wide...click here to get full details
Conference on the Epidemic of Medical Errors & Hospital Acquired Infections in the US and Canada: The Systemic Causes
June 4, 2012 Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W. Toronto, ON
Registration: $250.00 For more information about the conference or to register: www.ochu.on.ca
* Every registrant will receive a copy of the book: “ Epidemic of Medical Error and Hospital Acquired Infection “
Presentations:
Keynote, Systemic Causes of Medical Error and Hospital • Acquired Infection: The Epidemic • Epidemiology of Medical Error and Infections • The Canadian Situation • Staffing and Medical Error and Hospital Infections • Factory Medicine • Shiftwork and its Malevolent Effects • Medical Errors and Hospital Infections: The Quebec Situation • Bullying and Medical Error • Ethics of Medical Errors in US and Canada • Injure a Healthcare Worker Injure a Patient: Connecting the Dots • Legal Issues that Conflict with Patient Safety • Medical Error and Infections to Special Populations • Panel discussion
Sponsored by The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
Click here for more information and to register online
Enter the name for this tabbed section: Health and Poverty
Poverty in Ontario is steadily increasing, and while the rich are getting richer, the poor are losing their livelihoods, their homes and are having difficulty providing for themselves and others. With the financial crisis used as a catalyst to cut from those who make the least, attacks on the most vulnerable in our country are becoming more brazen and the financial gap between the rich and poor gets wider every day.
One cause of this increased wage gap is the cut to the Special Diet - a food supplement program which provided up to $250 a month for those who could not afford to eat healthy food. This program is being replaced by a system which would exclude a significant portion of those who were previously using it to ensure they had access to decent meals.
One cause of this increased wage gap is the cut to the Special Diet - a food supplement program which provided up to $250 a month for those who could not afford to eat healthy food. This program is being replaced by a system which would exclude a significant portion of those who were previously using it to ensure they had access to decent meals.
Enter the name for this tabbed section: Upcoming Educationals
Educational Teleconference Series
with Ethan Poskanzer
from the law firm of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell
September 19th, 2011 @ 7pm (eastern standard): Contracting Out
October 17th, 2011 @ 7pm (eastern standard): Medical Information
November 21st, 2011 @ 7pm (eastern standard): Changes to Health and Safety Legislation
January 16th, 2012 @ 7pm (eastern standard): Parental leave/Compassionate leave
View and download the flyer
October Newsletter
October Newsletter: Member's Update
Your Job Security may be at risk
The healthcare spending promises of the Liberal, Conservative and NDP will mean cuts to spending on hospitals and long-term care over the next four years. The Conservatives promise to contract-out all support service work in the public sector. Under the Liberals, services like food and surgical preparation and delivery are being privatized. The Conservatives support clinical procedures being performed by private clinics. The Liberals are moving hospital patients to for-profit retirement homes.....read moreJuly Newsletter
July Newsletter: Campaign for seniors quality care In long-term care and in hospital
This is a joint project of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and the Ontario Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists. ....read more
May Newsletter
May Newsletter: 15-‐community tour of northern Ontario in fight against superbugs
4,000 Ontario hospital patients die each year from hospital acquired infections
OCHU vice-‐presidents Louis Rodrigues, Marc Lafrance and Sharon Richer are on a 15- community tour of northern Ontario, talking with the public and the media about hospital acquired infections( HAI’s ) and CUPE’s strategies to drive down the death rates. HAI’s are the fourth leading cause of death in Canada. ....read moreApril Newsletter
April Newsletter: 800 in Kingston to protest contracting-out of food services
13 buses from across the province poured protesters into Kingston for major rally.
The struggle over the contracting-out of food services in Kingston got a boost March 28 when 13 buses of healthcare workers from across Ontario came to protest. The board of the Kingston General Hospital voted in November to have Compass buy food from Ottawa, ship it to Mississauga, plate it and ship it back to Kingston.....read more
Media Advisories
Stop medical errors, hospital infections: the second leading cause of death
Save tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars, say book authorsPembroke,ON Thousands of Ontarians die needlessly due to medical errors, hospital-acquired infections and cost-cutting each year, say the authors of a new book titled Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections, who are in Pembroke for a media conference tomorrow Friday, May 11 (11 a.m.) at
202 Pembroke St. East (Royal Canadian Legion).
Hospital cost-cutting planned by the Ontario government will make the epidemic worse.
The book probes the systemic issues – like unsafe patient volumes, inadequate staffing and shiftwork – of preventable hospital deaths due to what medical insiders refer to as “adverse events” such as hospital-acquired infections and bed sores that turn septic and kill patients in both Canada and the United States (U.S.). Medical errors and adverse events are even higher in the community sector and in private independent clinics.
Edited by William Charney, an occupational health specialist for 30 years (ten as director of environmental health at the Department of Public Health in San Francisco, and five at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal) the book provides research from both sides of the border and examines the science behind possible solutions to prevent deaths.
“Preventing infections and errors saves hospitals money. But we are dealing with an epidemic of harm.
Unless there is a will to tackle the systemic issues, little will change to subdue the epidemic,” says Charney. His research shows that medical errors lead to more than 788,000 deaths a year in the U.S., making them the leading cause of death. In Canada, it’s estimated between 56,000 and 63,000 people die as a result of medical errors and hospital-acquired infections – the second leading cause of death. Cancer is number one.
The Pembroke media conference is part of a 15-community tour that includes Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Thunder Bay and Windsor and culminates with a June 4 conference at the Isabel Bader Theatre,
93 Charles St. W., in Toronto.
“18 per cent of hospital admissions result in medical errors. The personal suffering this results in is staggering. But preventable medical errors are going to get worse if the Ontario government cuts hospital budgets and thousands more beds as planned. Bed sores, for example, a leading result of medical error,
are a direct result of understaffing,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) who has contributed a chapter to the book.
Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections is published by Taylor & Francis, a leading international academic publisher (http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/).
To find out more about the June 4 conference go to: http://www.ochu.on.ca/conferences_conventions.html
-30-
For more information please contact:
Stella Yeadon
Communications – Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE/OCHU) 416-559-9300
SURVEY: You Bet We Still Care!
is coming at the end of May.We need your input. Tell us about your work in the early childhood education and care sector!! The You Bet We Still Care! survey will be released at the end of May 2012. Click here to find out more...
Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital Acquired Infections - 2012 Conference
Hundreds of thousands of deaths occur each year as a result of medical errors and hospital acquired infections (HAIs). Join us at the first annual conference addressing this Epidemic of Medical Errors and HAIs on June 4th, 2012 in Toronto, ON.Seattle, WA (PRWEB) April 10, 2012
Liberals on the wrong track: sell-off of Ontario Northland, expansion of private surgeries will badly hurt northern Ontario
April 3 2012TORONTO, ON - The provincial Liberal’s plan to privatize public services - from hospital surgeries to the sell-off of Ontario Northland “will compromise public safety and deliver less service at a higher cost,” says Michael Hurley the Ontario president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).
Like Ontario Northland, British Rail did not turn a profit and received government subsidy. Reducing the government’s funding support for British Rail was the main reason given by the British government for privatization of the rail service. Before it was fully privatized in 1997, British Rail had a stellar safety record with only one fatal accident due to track failure in five decades. After it was privatized, between 1998 and 2004, 39 people were killed due to lax safety standards and poor track maintenance.
Few passenger rail services in the world are profitable “but people in remote communities rely on them and subsidized public transit is a critical part of our infrastructure. It is key to dealing with climate change. By selling-off Ontario Northland, the Liberals are turning their back on northern residents, their struggling economies and the environment,” says Hurley.
Today the British government is still providing billions of pounds in subsidies to the private service. That’s about half the system’s operating costs and a far higher subsidy than was ever given to British Rail. “Only now a significant portion of that public money is going into investors’ pockets rather into track maintenance and increased public safety. Why would the Liberals ape the rail privatization disaster of the United Kingdom?” Hurley asks.
In the recent provincial budget, the Liberals outlined plans for a series of privatization initiatives, the sale of Ontario Northland and moving surgeries and medical procedures into independent clinics outside of hospitals. Surgeries will be headquartered in the largest urban centres. This will set the stage for the transfer of these procedures to private corporations.
“ Like the Afghan government, the Liberals now hold only urban strongholds and have abandoned the countryside “ says Hurley. “ Isolated, distant northern communities are desperately dependent on a viable, subsidized, safe system of rail transportation to support their precarious economies. It is the responsibility of all Ontarians to ensure that this system remains in place, publicly delivered. “
For more information please contact:
Michael Hurley
President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU)
416-884-0770
Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
416-559-9300
Kenora rally Monday to stop Liberal $1 Billion funding cut and local hospital bed and operating room closures
KENORA, ON – More than $1 billion in hospital cuts being considered by the Liberal government will mean reduced services, closed hospital beds and operating rooms, more job loss and increased waiting lists for community-based care in the Kenora region, say hospital workers rallying tomorrow (Monday, March 26 at 12 noon) to defend local health services.Kenora could lose dozens of hospital beds if Premier Dalton McGuinty and health minister Deb Matthews move forward on a recommendation to cut all 12,000 non-acute care beds province-wide. That will mean for every 1000 residents there will be just 1.6 beds available in the region’s hospital system. That’s well below the Ontario average of 2.4 beds per 1,000 population already the lowest of any province.
“With that kind of cut to hospital beds, Kenora region would have as few beds as Rwanda and Congo. The local MPP should be a loud voice for the community on this issue,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) who will be among the speakers at the noon rally Monday, at the Kenora office of NDP MPP Sarah Campbell, 300 McLellan Avenue East.
Given that many area hospitals already are dealing with bed shortages, “the Liberal’s new funding cuts can only mean immense upheaval for patient care. Seniors will be most affected because they are often the patients occupying the very non-acute care beds, the Liberals may be cutting,” says Hurley.
The rally tomorrow is the seventh of similar rallies being held this March in communities across the province including, Sudbury (March 8), Peterborough (March19), Brampton (March 20), Niagara Falls (March 21), Kitchener (March 22) and Ottawa (March 27).
OCHU is the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents over 60,000 health care workers.
Hospital bed projections are based on Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data.
For more information please contact:
Michael Hurley President,
OCHU
(416) 884-0770
Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
(416) 559-9300
Rally to stop McGuinty health care plan for Sudbury
Shut operating rooms, hospital bed and staff cutsSUDBURY,ON – More than $1 billion in hospital cuts being considered by the Liberal government will mean reduced services, increased waiting lists for community-based care, closed hospital beds and more job loss in Greater Sudbury, say hospital workers rallying tomorrow (Thursday, March 8 at 12 noon) to defend health services.
The Liberals are already cutting 60 non-acute care beds at the former Memorial Hospital. Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci insists there is “no chance” his government will continue to fund these beds.
Sudbury could lose as many as 100 more beds if Premier Dalton McGuinty and health minister Deb Matthews move forward on cutting all 12,000 non-acute care beds province-wide. That will mean for every 1,000 residents there will be just 1.8 hospital beds available in Sudbury’s hospital system. That’s well below the Ontario average of 2.4 beds per 1,000 population, already the lowest of any province.
“That kind of cut to hospital beds would basically put Sudbury on par with Mexico which has the lowest number of beds among economically developed countries,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) who will be among the speakers at the noon rally Thursday.
Given that Health Sciences North already has a $9 million operational deficit that has to be eliminated by September 2012, “the Liberal’s funding cuts can only mean immense upheaval for patient care,” says Hurley.
Tomorrow’s rally at Bartolucci’s Cedar St. office is the first of similar rallies this March in communities across the province including Peterborough, Brampton, Niagara Falls, Kitchener, Kenora and Ottawa.
OCHU is the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents over 60,000 health care workers.
For more information please contact:
Michael Hurley President,
OCHU
(416) 884-0770
Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
(416) 559-9300
Don’t ignore care needs of frail seniors
Long-term care staff urge health ministerGUELPH, Ont. – 85,000 residents in long-term care (LTC) homes and another 24,000 frail seniors on a waitlist for a nursing home bed will be adversely affected should Ontario’s health minister move forward on proposed cuts to health care funding, said direct care LTC staff at a Guelph media conference today.
They urged action on a Liberal promise from 2003 to enact a minimum care standard for LTC residents and
to say no to proposals being floated by the Drummond Commission which include no growth in long-term care capacity and a severe funding cut for health services.
Currently there is no mandatory minimum care standard LTC homes are legislated to meet.
“Years ago the Liberals made a commitment to seniors in this province to legislate a care standard. It’s time they made good on that promise,” says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
OCHU/CUPE is advocating for a minimum standard of care of 3.5 hours of direct care per day for LTC residents.
At today’s media conference front line staff Irene Fitzpatrick, described the challenges faced by long-term care workers in providing care with dignity for residents in an under-resourced and under-staffed LTC system.
“There is no dignity in assembly-line feeding. It should take as long as the resident needs to fully finish a meal. Not the six minutes scheduled,” said Fitzpatrick.
In the coming weeks PSWs, dietary aides and RPNs are reaching out to their members of provincial parliament (MPP) and urging them to champion minimum 3.5 hours of care standard in the upcoming session at Queen’s Park.
“It breaks my heart when residents say that they are lonely – and I want to stay and talk with them, but I can’t because we don’t have enough staff on the floor. MPPs must help change that by pushing for a legislated care standard,” said Fitzpatrick.
According to Statistics Canada, Ontario spends $155.30 per LTC resident a day. This is far less than Quebec
at $254.30, Saskatchewan at $216.70 and Alberta at $201.80. Only PEI and New Brunswick spend less.
Nowhere in his report does Drummond assess the unmet need for long-term care, said Hurley. “Nor does he acknowledge that spending on health care has been shrinking as a share of Ontario’s provincial budget. When
it comes to care with dignity for seniors, Drummond is offering a dead end. It is not the ‘road map’ the Liberals should be following.”
For more information please contact:
Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
416-559-9300
Visit http://www.cupe.on.ca/timetocare for more information and to view the 3.5 hours video
Canada Health Act is “completely irrelevant”, says McGuinty advisor
TORONTO, Ont. – Recent comments by Don Drummond, the $1500-a-day Bay St. banker hired by the Ontario Liberals to cut public service funding, that the Canada Health Act is "completely irrelevant" should give the Premier pause about who he's entrusted to protect universal health care," says Michael Hurley the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).While Drummond's latest musings on universal health care were made on CBC - The House a few days ago, Drummond has for years been a clear proponent of health care privatization, user fees and even imposing a tax on Ontario's sickest-generally, seniors and the poor. Last March, when the Liberals announced the commission to review public services that Drummond is heading, they were clear "the commission will not make recommendations that would increase taxes or lead to the privatization of health care or education."
But in a recent report to the C.D. Howe Institute, Drummond did just that, said Hurley. Drummond calls for "greater private sector involvement" in Ontario's health system through a "policy that encourages competition among providers."
"In other words," says Hurley, "let's expand corporate opportunities to profit from the public service of healthcare. And that's just the first chapter." In his appearance on The House, Drummond says: "at some point…you have to bring in some revenues…so there has
to be a second chapter."
If the Liberals follow Drummond's "re-design" for healthcare, the second chapter may well come in the form of user-fees, higher co-payments for drugs even for seniors receiving the Ontario Drug Benefit, and "sick taxes" charging patients at tax time for their usage
of health care.
These are all "reforms" that Drummond recommends in his C.D. Howe report, and in earlier reports for the Canadian Medical Association and TD Bank.
In 2004, the Ontario Liberals passed legislation called 'The Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act' reaffirming the commitment
of "the people of Ontario and their government," to the Canada Health Act. "It begs the question, are the McGuinty Liberals on the verge of breaking their promise to defend Medicare? Or are they going to distance themselves from Drummond's clear bias against universal health care?" Asks Hurley.
"As a private citizen, Mr. Drummond is entitled to his opinion that the Canada Health Act is irrelevant and that privatization is the solution to everything. That's what you get when you appoint a banker to develop public policy behind closed doors. However, he's
now on the government payroll. The Premier has legal responsibilities to guarantee universal and accessible healthcare to all Ontarians. If he follows Drummond's advice, the Premier will be in clear violation of those responsibilities and will cause irreparable harm to publicly delivered health care in Ontario," warned Hurley.
For more information:
Michael Hurley President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE
(416) 884-0770
Stella Yeadon CUPE Communications
(416) 559-9300
A Brief History
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) hospital sector in Ontario has had centrally coordinated bargaining since approximately 1975. At this time, participating hospital unions paid a modest per capita that sustained our central negotiating team.
In 1981, the central bargaining team representing CUPE hospital workers signed a Memorandum of Settlement that was considered concessionary. A minority of the bargaining team and most of the local presidents campaigned to have the memorandum rejected. 98% of members voted against it.
Regardless, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) refused to bargain any revisions to the Memorandum. At this time, CUPE hospital members took the unprecedented step of striking illegally in 65 locals across the province.
The strikes lasted between seven to ten days depending on the community. On the tenth day, the courts ordered everyone back to work.
In 1982, CUPE hospital workers created the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE. OCHU was created primarily as a bargaining council to ensure that our membership exerted direct control over negotiations.
Who we are today
Today, the membership of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) includes 21,000 CUPE hospital, long-term care, ambulance and central laundry workers in 120 bargaining units across Ontario.
OCHU bargains a central collective agreement, coordinates grievances related to centrally negotiated language, conducts campaigns in defense of a universally accessible, public healthcare system, and assists with organizing drives throughout the province. OCHU often works with other unions and community coalitions to support and coordinate joint campaigns in the health care sector.
OCHU also co-ordinates arbitrations for grievances that have provincial implications and arranges educationals on a variety of topics for the executive and membership in conjunction with CUPE’s Union Development branch.
The OCHU Secretary-Treasurer and First Vice-President sit on the Board of the Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), representing CUPE’s plan members.
OCHU has several occupational and issue- oriented committees which include: Health and Safety, Trades, Registered Practical Nurses’ (RPN), Continuing Care/Long-term Care and Paramedical workers committees.
OCHU Executive
OCHU has divided the province of Ontario into seven regional areas. A Vice President and Alternate Vice President are then elected from each area. Thus, the OCHU Executive is comprised of these seven elected regional Vice-Presidents, seven elected regional Alternate Vice Presidents, as well as one elected Francophone Vice President and a full-time Secretary-Treasurer and President.
The Central Bargaining Committee of CUPE hospital workers in Ontario is comprised of the seven elected regional Vice Presidents as well as the Secretary Treasurer and President, which negotiates a master contract with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
OCHU Executive members also assist in negotiations with individual locals and their respective employers who refuse to participate in central bargaining. The OCHU Executive and members are supported by CUPE with 2.5 full-time researchers and one full-time CUPE health care coordinator. Please see the list of the current OCHU Executive members.
Sixty-five local unions and their members direct the OCHU Executive through delegated provincial conferences, regional meetings and through provincial membership voting. Please see Bargaining & Regional Meetings and our Events calendar for the latest OCHU conferences and meetings in your area.
Central Bargaining
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health to bargain provincially with the major unions in the hospital sector: the Ontario Nurses Association, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union.
Bargaining unit of each union and their respective employers can choose to bargain provincially at a single table. For CUPE, approximately 25,000 employees at 80 hospitals across the province are included in negotiations of three master collective agreements: one for combined full and part time units, one for full time employees only and one for part time only units.
There are only four CUPE organized work places which do not participate in central bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association and three of these units follow the central settlement.
Hospital employers and local union representatives elect central bargaining teams, which conduct the negotiations. CUPE units have the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions as the bargaining agent in negotiations.
The first step in negotiations is to agree on a Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining. This Memorandum outlines the timetable for central and local negotiations, identifies the issues that are to be bargained provincially and locally, distinguishes the units and employers who are participating and indicates how unresolved issues will be dealt with.
Following the development of this Memorandum of Conditions, bargaining proposals are then exchanged face-to-face. Unresolved issues are usually referred to arbitration, by an independent third party.
For more detail on our membership, organizational purpose and structure, please read the OCHU bylaws.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) hospital sector in Ontario has had centrally coordinated bargaining since approximately 1975. At this time, participating hospital unions paid a modest per capita that sustained our central negotiating team.
In 1981, the central bargaining team representing CUPE hospital workers signed a Memorandum of Settlement that was considered concessionary. A minority of the bargaining team and most of the local presidents campaigned to have the memorandum rejected. 98% of members voted against it.
Regardless, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) refused to bargain any revisions to the Memorandum. At this time, CUPE hospital members took the unprecedented step of striking illegally in 65 locals across the province.
The strikes lasted between seven to ten days depending on the community. On the tenth day, the courts ordered everyone back to work.
In 1982, CUPE hospital workers created the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE. OCHU was created primarily as a bargaining council to ensure that our membership exerted direct control over negotiations.
Who we are today
Today, the membership of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) includes 21,000 CUPE hospital, long-term care, ambulance and central laundry workers in 120 bargaining units across Ontario.
OCHU bargains a central collective agreement, coordinates grievances related to centrally negotiated language, conducts campaigns in defense of a universally accessible, public healthcare system, and assists with organizing drives throughout the province. OCHU often works with other unions and community coalitions to support and coordinate joint campaigns in the health care sector.
OCHU also co-ordinates arbitrations for grievances that have provincial implications and arranges educationals on a variety of topics for the executive and membership in conjunction with CUPE’s Union Development branch.
The OCHU Secretary-Treasurer and First Vice-President sit on the Board of the Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), representing CUPE’s plan members.
OCHU has several occupational and issue- oriented committees which include: Health and Safety, Trades, Registered Practical Nurses’ (RPN), Continuing Care/Long-term Care and Paramedical workers committees.
OCHU Executive
OCHU has divided the province of Ontario into seven regional areas. A Vice President and Alternate Vice President are then elected from each area. Thus, the OCHU Executive is comprised of these seven elected regional Vice-Presidents, seven elected regional Alternate Vice Presidents, as well as one elected Francophone Vice President and a full-time Secretary-Treasurer and President.
The Central Bargaining Committee of CUPE hospital workers in Ontario is comprised of the seven elected regional Vice Presidents as well as the Secretary Treasurer and President, which negotiates a master contract with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
OCHU Executive members also assist in negotiations with individual locals and their respective employers who refuse to participate in central bargaining. The OCHU Executive and members are supported by CUPE with 2.5 full-time researchers and one full-time CUPE health care coordinator. Please see the list of the current OCHU Executive members.
Sixty-five local unions and their members direct the OCHU Executive through delegated provincial conferences, regional meetings and through provincial membership voting. Please see Bargaining & Regional Meetings and our Events calendar for the latest OCHU conferences and meetings in your area.
Central Bargaining
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health to bargain provincially with the major unions in the hospital sector: the Ontario Nurses Association, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union.
Bargaining unit of each union and their respective employers can choose to bargain provincially at a single table. For CUPE, approximately 25,000 employees at 80 hospitals across the province are included in negotiations of three master collective agreements: one for combined full and part time units, one for full time employees only and one for part time only units.
There are only four CUPE organized work places which do not participate in central bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association and three of these units follow the central settlement.
Hospital employers and local union representatives elect central bargaining teams, which conduct the negotiations. CUPE units have the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions as the bargaining agent in negotiations.
The first step in negotiations is to agree on a Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining. This Memorandum outlines the timetable for central and local negotiations, identifies the issues that are to be bargained provincially and locally, distinguishes the units and employers who are participating and indicates how unresolved issues will be dealt with.
Following the development of this Memorandum of Conditions, bargaining proposals are then exchanged face-to-face. Unresolved issues are usually referred to arbitration, by an independent third party.
For more detail on our membership, organizational purpose and structure, please read the OCHU bylaws.
OCHU Secretary-Treasurer Helen Fetterly is vice-chair of the Board of Trustees for the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) for 2012, as well as Chair of the Governance & HR Committee. Fetterly will move to the position of Board chair in 2013.