When the going gets tough, the tough get organized.
Which is exactly what the Respiratory Therapists (RRTs) at Stevenson Memorial in Alliston decided to do earlier this month, voting 100 per cent to join together in OPSEU/SEFPO.
“As Doug Ford holds open the door for health profiteers, things are getting very tough in Ontario’s hospitals, and they’re especially tough right now at Stevenson Memorial,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “In the midst of severe staff shortages, Stevenson management have laid off nurses. It only makes sense if we see it as a manufactured crisis by the ford government to sell off our public health care to the highest bidder.”
“It’s easy to see why the Stevenson RRTs decided to pool their power with other hospital workers in the same boat. It’s so painfully clear their managers and the government don’t prioritize their workers or their patients.”
The RRTs at Stevenson are just the latest group of hospital professionals and support workers who have already joined OPSEU/SEFPO. Over the last couple of years, health professionals at Almonte General, St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill, and Sick Kids in downtown Toronto have all said yes to OPSEU/SEFPO.
“Every community is unique, but our hospitals are all facing the same crisis,” said Laurie Nancekivell, OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer. “Hospital Professionals on the front line are chronically short-staffed. Perpetually burned out. And having to watch the privatizers and temp agencies make money from the chaos. But working together, supporting each other, Hospital Professionals are committed to protecting public health care.”
OPSEU/SEFPO Hospitals Professional Division Chair Sara Labelle says she’s proud the Stevenson RRTs are now among the 28,000 Hospital Professionals in OPSEU/SEFPO.
“Respiratory therapists care immensely about the work they do,” said Labelle. “We are thrilled they are joining at a critical time when it is more important than ever for hospital professionals to be a unified voice for improved working conditions and high-quality care for the patients we care for daily across the province.”