Staff in the Security Services Department at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) are the newest members of OPSEU/SEFPO following a unanimous vote to join. They join over 1,100 other members working at CHEO and are now part of a movement of 180,000 OPSEU/SEFPO members.
“We are happy to welcome Security Services staff at CHEO who have shown such overwhelming enthusiasm to join the OPSEU/SEFPO family!” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “We stand alongside you in helping to keep CHEO safe and secure for kids and their families. The recent surge of respiratory illnesses has pushed hospital capacities beyond the brink and reveals the fact that we must demand better, by standing together.”
The union’s Hospital Support Sector is composed of health care workers in clerical, service, and security roles, including protection agents at the Ottawa Hospital.
“OPSEU/SEFPO members understand each other, and we amplify each other’s voices,” said Jill McIllwraith, chair of the OPSEU/SEFPO Hospital Support Sector. “Ontario’s hospitals have been strained and underfunded for far too long, and that means chronic short-staffing and burnout for frontline workers. CHEO Security Services staff can now trust that they’re part of a powerful team – joining with other members who will always fight for better working conditions, and high-quality, public health care. We welcome you!”
The Ford government has not been an ally of public health in Ontario. Ford’s push for a privatized health care system says it all. OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer Laurie Nancekivell says the new members at CHEO can depend on OPSEU/SEFPO.
“Privatization is never the answer – in our health care system, it will never put patients, workers, or the community first,” said Nancekivell. “OPSEU/SEFPO is dedicated to empowering members at the bargaining table, and standing together in our fight against the Ford government.”