CLAC Speaks Out Against Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Service Cuts

DATE: July 27, 2012

Chatham, ON—“Upcoming cuts at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) are disappointing and unnecessary,” says Trish Douma, CLAC’s southwestern Ontario Director.

Over 400 CKHA employees are represented by Southwestern Ontario Health Care and Service Workers Union, Local. 303, affiliated with CLAC.

“We feel that RPNs provide some of the best value in healthcare delivery,” says Douma. “Laying them off in an effort to cut costs is counterproductive.”

The province of Ontario finds itself in a difficult fiscal situation. However, a funding change that causes reductions to frontline hospital staff is not a long term solution.

“We applaud CKHA for its efforts to keep reductions to a minimum,” says Douma. “But those reductions should not have been necessary in the first place. We call on the government of Ontario to engage its healthcare sector employees and their unions in a rational dialogue to find real solutions, rather than political ones. Don’t put Ontario’s fiscal problems on the backs of healthcare workers.”