Long-term Care COVID-19 Commission Releases Interim Recommendations: UFCW Locals 175 & 633 continues to urge immediate action to improve long-term care and other healthcare

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the Ontario government’s Long-term Care COVID-19 Commission interim recommendations released today, Locals 175 & 633 of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) reiterated the call for the government to take immediate action to improve the healthcare industry.

“The interim recommendations from the Commission support what our Union has been saying for years – the industry is broken and needs real, substantial action to fix it,” said Shawn Haggerty, President of UFCW Local 175. “Report after report has continued to come back with the same results. It’s up to the Ford government to take action and implement these recommendations and make sure that our elders and the workers who care for them are as safe as possible in these homes.”

UFCW Locals 175 & 633 calls on the government to take these immediate steps to address the staffing crisis:

• Fund the system to ensure increased staffing through attraction and retention, and proper employment conditions such as more full-time work and appropriate compensation levels for all workers;
• Implement a four-hour per day minimum standard of care for each resident; and,
• End the unconstitutional emergency orders, maintained by Bill 195, that bypass collective agreement language covering scheduling, holidays, vacations, hours of work, and rights to file grievances.
  

Additionally, UFCW Locals 175 & 633 believes the approach to elder care must improve across the entire healthcare sector in Ontario, which means our government must provide proper support to our retirement homes and homecare facilities as well.

“Our Members who look after the elderly care passionately about the work they do,” said Haggerty. “They deserve the necessary support to ensure that they can properly perform their work so that residents get the level of care they need. The Ford government must take action immediately, beginning with implementing these recommendations.”

UFCW Locals 175 & 633 represents more than 70,000 Union Members across Ontario including over 5,000 health care workers in long-term care, retirement home, homecare and congregate care workplaces.

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