(Welland) The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is launching an ad campaign tomorrow in Niagara and Norfolk County in support of the members of Local 294 who work for CarePartners. The ads inform the public that many of their health-care tax dollars are being diverted to private-sector profits rather than public-sector medical treatment. The newspaper and radio campaign will call on residents to tell Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins that patient care should come before profits.
“We think residents of Niagara and Norfolk County should know the facts, and we are prepared to spend the money so that the truth is known” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU. “The public is being robbed of the medical care it deserves. Private-sector administrators are skimming profits when 100 per cent of scarce health care dollars should go towards care and treatment.
“The Medicare system was born in Saskatchewan and quickly embraced by all Canadians. It is one of the best healthcare programs in the world. A bedrock principle is that tax dollars go towards patient care and not profits. But the Ontario government is violating this principle.”
The private company CarePartners holds one of 1,400 lucrative service contracts to provide clinical and home care services to patients. For every home visit and/or clinical visit, the private owner of CarePartners profits at the expense of the workers who are not fully paid for the time they spend at each home visit.
The workers from CarePartners have been on strike since April 10. For more than two months they have stood up against the private owner of CarePartners. They’re defending the dignity and medical treatment of patients by demanding respect and a fair and just contract in an attempt to make patient care the priority, and not profits to a private owner.
OPSEU is encouraging the public to call the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins, MPP at 416-656-0943 or email [email protected] and request that their tax dollars be spent on health care, not profits.
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For more information:
Pati Habermann, Staff Representative
Cell: 905-328-7134