Workers from Local 294 CarePartners have been on strike since April 10. They remain determined to make patient care a priority.
Home nurses are paid on a per visit basis and are under relentless pressure to provide care even quicker in order to maximize profits for the owner.
“We believe nurses should be paid a regular salary for the important work they do,” said local president, Christopher Terreberry,“Ontario tax dollars should be spent on healthcare, not profits.”
The Ontario government started contracting-out health care services 18 years ago and continues to do so even though it is more costly.
A perfect example of this phenomenon is CarePartners. It 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, Linda Knight, profits at the expense of the workers who are not fully paid for time spent in each home visit.
The workers provide nursing services including oncology, dialysis, pediatric, wound and diabetic care to out-patients so they are able to live at home while being cared for.
The conciliator has called both sides back to the bargaining table on May 30.